I  <q 


tibvavy  of  <the  Cheolocjtccd  Seminary 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Dr.  Francis  L.  Pat ton 

BX  9223  .T2  1885 
Taylor,  William  M.  1829- 

1895. 
John  Knox 


JOHN    KNOX 


John    Knox. 


/ 


BY 


WM.   M.   TAYLOR,   D.D.,   LL.D., 

Author  of  "  Limitations  of  Life"  etc. 


WITH    STEEL   PORTRAIT   ENGRAVED   BY   B.    HOLL,  FROM 

A  PAINTING   IN   THE   POSSESSION   OF 

LORD    SOMERVILLE. 


NEW  YORK : 

A.  C.  ARMSTRONG  &  SON, 

714  Broadway. 

1S85. 


Copyright,  1885, 
By  A.  C.  ARMSTRONG  &  SON. 


PREFACE. 

r  I  ^HE  sources  from  which  the  following  narra- 
tive has  been  derived  are  (i)  the  splendidly 
edited  and  complete  edition  of  Knox's  Works 
in  six  volumes,  by  Dr.  David  Laing ;  (2)  the 
Memoir  of  the  Reformer,  by  Dr.  Thomas  McCrie, 
forming  the  first  volume  of  the  collected  works 
of  that  eminent  theologian  ;  (3)  the  monograph 
by  the  late  Professor  Lorimer,  D.D.,  entitled 
"John  Knox  and  the  Church  of  England";  and 
(4)  the  Histories  of  the  Period,  more  especially 
that  of  Scotland,  by  John  Hill  Burton,  vols.  iii. 
and  iv.,  and  that  of  England,  by  J.  A.  Froude, 
vols.  v.  and  vi.  Some  assistance  also  has  been 
derived  from  "  The  Scottish  Reformation,"  by 
Professor  Lorimer  ;  and  the  two  sketches  by 
Carlyle,  the  one  in  his  "  Heroes  and  Hero  Wor- 
ship," and  the  other  in  his  essay  on  the  Portraits 


vi  PREFACE, 

of  John  Knox,  have  been  both  helpful  and  sug- 
gestive. Quotations  have  been  generally  in- 
dicated, but  this  acknowledgment  must  cover 
any  accidental  omission  to  give  to  each  author 
his  due ;  and  for  the  rest  the  reader  may  be 
assured  that  while  no  material  fact  has  been 
omitted,  nothing  has  been  recorded  for  which 
ample  authority  could  not  be  given.  The  figure 
has  been  felt  to  be  too  large  for  the  canvas 
to  which  we  have  been  restricted,  but  we  have 
sought  to  reproduce,  as  faithfully  as  possible  the 
man  as  he  was,  and  if  we  may  succeed  in  re- 
moving any  of  the  unreasonable  prejudice,  with 
which  many  still  regard  the  Scottish  Reformer, 
the  story  of  his  life  will  not  be  retold  by  us  in 
vain. 

W.  M.  T 

New  York. 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER   I. 
Early  Life  and  Call  to  the  Ministry,  i 505-1 547     .        1 

CHAPTER   II. 
In  the  French  Galleys,  1547-1549        ....      20 

CHAPTER   III. 
Ministry  in  Berwick-on-Tweed,  i549-I55°  29 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Knox  and  the  English    Book  of  Common   Prayer, 

I55I-I553 42 

CHAPTER  V. 
Last  Days  in  England,  1553 64 

CHAPTER  VI. 
First  Days  in  Exile,  1554 7i 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Troubles  at  Frankfort,  i554-I555       •        •        •      83 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Ministry  at  Geneva,  i555~I559     •  •        •      95 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGB 

Return  to  Scotland,  1559 115 

CHAPTER    X. 
The  Reconstruction  of  the  Scottish  Church,  1560      136 

CHAPTER   XL 
Knox  and  Queen  Mary  Stuart,  1561-1563  .        ,        ,     157 

CHAPTER   XII. 
Ministry  at  Edinburgh,  1564-1570        .        ,        ,        .179 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Last  Days,  1570-1572       .......     191 


CHAPTER  I. 

Early  Life  and  Call  to  the  Ministry,  1505-1547. 

ON  the  sixteenth  day  of  January,  1546,  George 
Wishart  delivered  a  remarkable  sermon  in  the 
church  of  Haddington.  Two  things  had  combined  to 
produce  special  depression  in  his  heart.  Shortly  before 
he  entered  the  pulpit  a  boy  had  put  into  his  hands  a 
letter  informing  him  that  his  friends  in  Kyle  would  not 
be  able  to  keep  an  appointment  which  they  had  made 
to  meet  him  in  Edinburgh.  This  news  so  saddened 
him  that  he  expressed  himself  as  "  weary  of  the  world," 
because  he  perceived  that  "  men  began  to  be  weary  of 
God."  Nor  was  his  despondency  removed  when  he 
rose  to  preach,  for  instead  of  the  crowds  that  used  to 
assemble  to  hear  him  in  that  church,  there  were  not 
more  than  a  hundred  persons  present.  It  was  thus 
made  apparent  to  him  that  the  efforts  of  his  enemies 
for  his  overthrow  were  now  to  be  successful,  and  so 
instead  of  treating  the  second  table  of  the  law  as  he 
had  been  expected  to  do,  he  poured  forth  a  torrent  of 
warning  and  denunciation,  not  unlike  some  of  the  fervid 

B 


2  JOHN  KNOX. 

utterances  of  the  old  Hebrew  prophets.  The  effect 
produced  was  all  the  more  solemn,  because  he  evidently 
felt  that  he  was  bearing  his  last  public  testimony  against 
the  evils  of  his  times. 

When  he  had  concluded  he  bade  his  friends  farewell, 
and  to  John  Knox,  who  throughout  his  sojourn  in 
Lothian  had  attended  him,  armed  with  a  two-handed 
sword,  as  a  protection  against  the  assassination  with 
which  he  had  twice  been  threatened,  and  who  had 
pressed  to  be  allowed  to  accompany  him  to  Ormiston, 
where  he  was  to  spend  the  night,  he  said,  "  Nay,  return 
to  your  bairns  "  (pupils),  "  and  God  bless  you  !  One 
is  sufficient  for  one  sacrifice." 

The  good  man's  presentiment  was  all  too  surely 
realized.  Before  midnight  the  house  in  which  he  slept 
was  surrounded  by  a  band  of  which  the  Earl  of  Bothwell 
was  the  head,  and  he  was  given  up  by  his  host  to  that 
nobleman,  only  however  on  the  receipt  of  a  pledge,  over 
which  "hands"  were  "  struck,"  to  the  effect  that  his 
personal  safety  should  be  secured,  and  he  should  not 
be  delivered  into  his  enemies'  power.  But  promises  in 
these  days  were  not  of  much  account,  and  Bothwell 
was  easily  prevailed  upon  to  give  him  up  to  Cardinal 
Beaton,  who  took  him  first  to  Edinburgh  Castle,  and 
afterwards  to  St.  Andrews.  There,  in  defiance  of  the 
protest  of  the  Regent,  he  was  hurriedly  subjected  to  the 
form  of  a  trial  by  the  cardinal,  and  being,  of  course, 
found  guilty,  he  was  executed  at  the  stake  on  the  first 
of  March. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND   CALL   TO    THE  MINISTRY.     3 

Thus  it  is,  as  the  body-guard  of  Wishart,  that  we  get 
our  first  glimpse  of  John  Knox  in  history  j  and  very 
characteristic  of  the  man  this  first  appearance  was.  He 
comes  upon  the  scene  as  unheralded  as  Elijah,  and,  like 
him  too,  he  is  seen  from  the  first  to  be  set  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  truth.  He  was  a  sword-bearer  all  through ; 
only  when  he  laid  aside  the  two-handed  brand  which  he 
carried  before  Wishart,  he  took  in  its  stead  "  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God." 

Before  proceeding  to  tell  the  stirring  story  of  his  life, 
however,  it  may  be  well  to  take  a  brief  survey  of  the 
condition  of  Scotland  at  the  moment  when  he  stepped 
into  the  arena  of  its  national  strife. 

Little   more   than   three    years   before   the    date    of 
Wishart's  execution,  the  Queen  of  Scotland  had  given 
birth  to  that    Mary   Stuart,  whose  character  has  been 
the  puzzle  of  historians,  and  whose  chequered  career 
has  been  the  theme  of  poets  almost  ever  since.     Her 
■father,  James  V.,  broken-hearted  by  the  utter  defeat  of 
his  army  by  the  English  at  the  battle  of  Solway  Moss, 
died  only  a  few  days  after  his  daughter's  birth.     Thus 
it  came  about,  that  in  a  critical  time  which  tested  the 
statesmanship  of   the  world's  strongest   rulers,  alike   in 
England,  France,  Germany,  and  Spain,  Scotland  had  a 
baby  sovereign,  and  the  controlling  of  its  affairs  became 
an    object   of   keen   competition    between    contending 
parties.     The  queen-mother,  Mary  of  Guise,  a  woman 
of  marked  ability,  of  much  cunning,  and  of  little  prin- 
ciple, was,  both  from  national  and  religious  leanings,  on 


4  JOHN  KNOX. 

the  side  of  the  Catholic  party.  Ot  that  party  the  head 
at  this  time  was  David  Beaton,  Archbishop  of  St. 
Andrews,  and  a  Cardinal  of  the  Church.  This  artful 
prelate,  "  the  nephew  of  his  uncle,"  was  possessed  of 
eminent  talents,  but  was  characterized  by  cruelty, 
licentiousness,  and  unscrupulousness.  He  had  prevailed 
on  James  V.  to  violate  the  promise  which  he  had  made 
to  his  uncle,  Henry  VIII.,  to  meet  him  at  Newcastle. 
The  haughty  Tudor  had  now  broken  with  the  Romish 
see,  and  was  anxious,  if  possible,  to  induce  his  nephew 
to  follow  his  example.  But  the  cardinal,  as  great  a 
master  of  intrigue  as  was  the  English  king  himself,  had 
succeeded  in  keeping  the  Scottish  monarch  from  putting 
himself  under  the  spell  of  his  uncle's  influence,  and 
Henry,  exasperated  at  his  defeat,  sent  into  Scotland  an 
army,  whose  success  at  Solway  Moss  led  indirectly,  as 
we  have  seen,  to  the  death  of  James.  When  that  event 
occurred,  Beaton  produced  a  forged  will,  purporting  to 
be  the  last  testament  of  the  king,  and  nominating  him 
as  Regent  with  three  of  the  nobles  as  his  assistants. 
On  the  strength  of  that  document  he  had  himself  pro- 
claimed as  Regent  at  the  Cross  of  Edinburgh.  But  the 
validity  of  the  instrument  was  annulled  by  the  Scottish 
Parliament;  and  in  the  spring  of  1543,  James,  Earl  of 
Arran,  heir  presumptive  of  the  crown,  was  appointed  to 
the  dignity  which  the  cardinal  had  so  eagerly  and  so 
unrighteously  sought  to  make  his  own. 

This   nobleman,    "notorious,"  as   Burton   says,    "for 
fickleness,"  had  been  at  first  on  the  side  of  the  Reforma- 


EARLY  LIFE  AND  CALL    TO   THE  MINISTRY.     5 

tion,  and  was  then  assiduously  courted  by  Henry  VIII. 
He  had  even  consented  to  the  marriage  of  the  baby 
queen  to  the  young  English  Prince  Edward.  But  the 
influence  of  the  queen-mother  and  the  cardinal,  backed 
by  that  of  his  own  natural  brother,  the  Abbot  of  Paisley, 
together  with  the  unjust  and  impolitic  demands  of  the 
English  monarch  himself,  combined  to  turn  him  from  his 
original  leanings.  He  publicly  abjured  the  Protestant 
faith,  and  was  received  into  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  He  broke  off  all  negotiations  for  a  matrimonial 
alliance  between  the  royal  houses  of  England  and  Scot- 
land, and  ultimately  consented  to  the  betrothal  of 
Mary  to  the  Dauphin  of  France.  The  result  of  these 
proceedings  was  a  protracted  war  with  England,  during 
which  Scotland  was  repeatedly  invaded,  and  portions  of 
it-devastated  by  the  southern  forces. 

But  while  these  political  and  international  intrigues, 
in  which  it  must  be  confessed  that  there  was  little 
scrupulousness  on  either  side,  were  going  on,  a  great 
spiritual  movement  was  making  quiet  progress  among 
the  people.  The  Reformation  from  Popery  had  begun 
in  Scotland  also.  Patrick  Hamilton,  its  protomartyr, 
had  been  put  to  death  in  1528  ;  but  the  smoke  of  his 
burning,  to  borrow  the  well-known  words  of  one  of 
the  elder  Beaton's  own  servants,  "had  infected  all 
on  whom  it  blew";  and  the  books  of  the  German 
Reformers,  together  with  the  English  Testaments  of 
William  Tyndale,  had  wrought  like  hidden  leaven, 
especially  among  the  more  intelligent  of  the  community. 


6  JOHN  KNOX. 

Thus  we  account  for  the  fact  that,  in  spite  of  legal 
prohibitions  and  public  executions,  the  knowledge  of 
evangelical  truth  was  diffused,  even  when  there  was  no 
living  voice  to  proclaim  it  publicly  in  the  hearing  of  the 
multitudes ;  so  that  when  a  man  like  Wishart  did  make 
his  appearance,  he  found  crowds  to  listen  to  him  ap- 
preciatively both  in  Dundee  and  Ayr.  The  Lollards 
of  Kyle  had  still  worthy  descendants  in  that  historic 
district ;  and  the  merchants  in  towns  like  that  of  Leith, 
whose  commerce  brought  them  into  contact  with  men 
from  Hamburg,  Antwerp,  and  the  cities  of  the  Rhine, 
were  disposed  to  welcome  the  new  doctrines.  Among 
the  nobles,  men  like  Glencairn  and  Errol  and  Ruthven 
ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  the  Reformers ;  while 
the  influence  of  a  satirist  like  Sir  David  Lindsay  of  the 
Mount,  and  a  scholar  like  Henry  Balnaves  of  Halhill, 
was  given  heartily  to  their  cause. 

But  next  only  to  the  diffusion  of  the  Scriptures  among 
the  people,  the  greatest  factor  in  the  production  of  the 
Reformation  in  Scotland  was  the  degraded  condition  into 
which  in  that  country  the  Church  of  Rome  itself  had 
sunk.  "  That  which  decayeth  is  ready  to  vanish  away." 
There  were  no  longer  in  it  the  elements  of  vitality.  It 
was  past  purifying,  and  had  to  be  swept  clean  out.  Its 
corruptions  were  too  open  to  be  denied,  and  too  gross 
to  be  defended.  The  grasping  selfishness  and  shameless 
licentiousness  of  the  upper  clergy  were  equalled  only  by 
the  ignorance  and  general  incompetence  of  the  lower,  so 
that  there  had  sprung  up  among  the  people  generally  a 


EARLY  LIFE  AND   CALL    TO   THE  MINISTRY.     7 

hatred  of  the  order  to  which  both  belonged.  This  was 
deepened  and  intensified  by  the  spirit  in  which  the  first 
efforts  of  the  Reformers  had  been  met,  for  in  Scotland 
as  elsewhere  the  prison  and  the  stake  were  the  short 
and  easy  answers  made  by  papal  intolerance  to  all  the 
arguments  which  the  preachers  brought  against  the 
errors  of  Romanism.  But  these  were  answers  which 
only  turned  more  general  attention  to  the  statements 
of  the  Reformers,  and  gave  wider  circulation  to  their 
words.  The  storm  of  contrary  wind  unfurls  the  banner, 
and  makes  thereby  its  inscription  the  more  legible,  and 
in  the  same  way  the  persecution  of  those  who  proclaimed 
the  truth  only  fell  out  to  the  furtherance  of  that  which 
it  was  designed  to  arrest. 

But  Cardinal  Beaton's  conscience  was  too  hard  to  feel 
the  crime,  and  his  eye  was  too  dim  to  see  the  blunder 
which  he  was  committing  in  putting  Wishart  to  death. 
He  looked  only  at  immediate  results,  and  thought  per- 
haps that  by  silencing  the  preacher  he  could  arrest  the 
influence  of  the  words  which  had  already  gone  from 
him.  But  in  reality  he  was  himself  standing  above  a 
mine  which  before  long  exploded  for  his  own  destruc- 
tion. His  checkmating  of  Henry  VIII.  so  exasperated 
that  monarch  that  he  entered  into  correspondence, 
through  his  agent  Sir  Robert  Sadler,  with  certain 
Scotsmen  whose  disaffection  to  the  cardinal  was  well 
known,  and  who,  at  his  suggestion,  or  at  least  with  his 
concurrence  and  approval,  perhaps  also  with  his  reward, 
entered  into  a  conspiracy  to  "  take  him  out  of  the  way." 


8  JOHN  KNOX 

Accordingly  on  the  morning  of  the  29th  of  May,  just 
three  months  after  the  martyrdom  of  Wishart,  Cardinal 
Beaton  was  assassinated  by  a  company  of  men  headed 
by  Norman  Leslie.  That  the  wily  priest  had  himself 
been  guilty  of  attempts  to  get  rid  of  his  adversaries  by 
the  same  unscrupulous  means  is  not  to  be  denied.  It 
is  equally  certain  that,  as  things  then  were,  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  bring  him  to  trial  for  any  of  his 
enormities.  But  still  the  manner  of  his  "  taking  off"  is 
not  only  utterly  indefensible,  but  also  worthy  of  the 
deepest  reprobation,  and  it  is  too  true,  as  Dr.  Lorimer 
has  said,  that  "  the  exasperation  of  feeling  called  forth 
by  a  deed  so  daring  and  criminal  gave  rise  to  proceed- 
ings against  the  conspirators  which,  being  extended  to 
all  their  abettors  real  or  supposed,  had  the  effect  of 
retarding  the  progress  of  the  Reformation  for  many 
years,  and  of  weighing  it  down  with  a  load  of  oppro- 
brium from  the  effects  of  which  it  could  only  slowly 


recover. 


»  1 


Foreseeing  that  they  would  be  the  objects  of  bitter 
attack,  the  conspirators,  after  they  had  done  their  bloody 
work,  resolved  to  keep  possession  of  the  Castle  of  St. 
Andrews  which  they  had  so  unexpectedly  seized,  and 
there  they  were  speedily  joined  by  at  least  one  hundred 
and  forty  persons,  numbering  among  them  Kirkaldy  of 
Grange,  Melville  of  Raith,  Balfour  of  Mount-quhany, 
and    many   gentlemen   of    Fife   and   the   neighbouring 

1  "The  Scottish  Reformation."  A  Historical  Sketch  by  Peter 
Lorimer,  D.D.     London  :  R.  Griffin  &  Co.,  i860,  p.  157. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND   CALL    TO    THE  MINISTRY,     g 

counties.  They  put  the  castle  into  a  state  of  defence, 
and  were  besieged  by  an  army  under  command  of  the 
Regent  Arran,  against  whom  they  held  out,  more  per- 
haps from  the  incompetence  of  the  besiegers  than  from 
the  skill  or  strength  of  the  besieged,  until  the  end  of 
January,  1547.  At  that  date  the  siege  was  suspended 
under  an  agreement  which  stipulated  that  the  Castle 
was  still  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  its  defenders,  on  the 
conditions  that  they  should  hold  it  for  the  Regent  and 
not  deliver  it  to  England  ;  and  that  they  should  not  be 
required  to  surrender  it  even  to  the  Regent  until  he  had 
obtained  from  Rome  absolution  for  those  who  had  been 
implicated  in  the  murder  of  the  cardinal.  Upon  his 
side  the  Regent  agreed  to  withdraw  his  forces  to  the 
south  of  the  Forth,  and  from  the  beginning  of  the  year 
on  till  the  following  June  the  inmates  of  the  Castle  were 
permitted  to  go  out  and  in  at  their  pleasure,  and  to 
receive  all  that  came  to  them. 

Thus  the  Castle  of  St.  Andrews  became  for  the  time 
a  kind  of  sanctuary  for  all  who  were  seeking  relief  or 
refuge  from  the  oppression  of  the  rulers  in  Church  and 
State ;  and  at  the  following  Easter,  which  fell  that  year 
on  the  10th  of  April,  John  Knox  entered  its  gates  under 
circumstances  which  he  himself  has  thus  described  : 
"  At  the  Pasch  after,  came  to  the  Castle  of  St.  Andrews 
John  Knox,  who,  wearied  of  removing  from  place  to 
place  by  reason  of  the  persecution  that  came  upon  him 
by  this  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  was  determined  to  have 
left  Scotland  and  to  have  visited  the  schools  of  Germany 


io  JOHN  KNOX. 

(of  England  then  he  had  no  pleasure  by  reason  that  the 
Pope's  name  being  suppressed,  his  laws  and  corruptions 
remained  in  full  vigour).  But  because  he  had  the  care 
of  some  gentlemen's  children,  whom  certain  years  he 
had  nourished  in  godliness,  their  fathers  solicited  him 
to  go  to  St.  Andrews,  that  himself  might  have  the  bene- 
fit of  the  castle,  and  their  children  the  benefit  of  his 
doctrine,  and  so  (we  say)  came  he  the  time  foresaid,  to 
the  said  place,  and  having  in  his  company  Francis 
Douglas  of  Longniddry,  George  his  brother,  and 
Alexander  Cockburn,  eldest  son  to  the  laird  of  Ormiston, 
began  to  exercise  them  after  his  accustomed  manner."  1 

Knox  was  at  this  time  in  the  prime  and  vigour  of  his 
manhood,  being  forty- twro  years  of  age.  He  was  born 
in  1505  at  Gifford-gate,  a  suburb  connected  with  Had- 
dington by  the  old  stone  bridge  across  the  Tyne.  His 
parents  were  not  distinguished  either  for  rank  or  fortune, 
for  one  of  his  adversaries  affirms  that  he  wras  "  obscuris 
natus  parentibus  "  (born  of  obscure  parents),  and  even 
one  of  his  admirers  says  that  "  he  descended  but  of 
lineage  small/'  His  father  was  William  Knox,  and  his 
mother's  name  was  Sinclair.  Both  of  them  apparently 
belonged  to  families  that  were  in  some  way  feudatories 
to  the  Earls  of  Bothwell,  for  at  the  Reformer's  first 
interview   with  that    earl,   whose  name  is   so  tragically 

1  "  The  Works  of  John  Knox,"  collected  and  edited  by  Dr.  David 
Laing,  vol.  i.  p.  185.  .  Once  for  all  let  it  be  said  that  in  making 
these  quotations  the  spelling  is  modernized,  but  otherwise  no  altera- 
tion is  made. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND   CALL    TO    THE  MINISTRY,     u 

coupled  with  Queen  Mary's,  he  said,  "  Albeit  that  to 
this  hour  it  hath  not  chanced  me  to  speak  to  your 
lordship  face  to  face,  yet  have  I  borne  a  good  mind  to 
your  house;  .  .  .  for,  my  lord,  my  -grandfather, 
goodschir  {i.e.,  according  to  Mr.  Laing,  maternal  grand- 
father) and  father  have  served  your  lordship's  pre- 
decessors, and  some  of  them  have  died  under  their 
standards."  He  received  his  earliest  education  at  the 
Grammar  School  of  Haddington,  and  passed  when  he 
was  about  sixteen  years  of  age  to  the  University  of 
Glasgow,  in  the  register  of  which  his  name  appears 
among  those  of  the  students  who  were  incorporated  on 
the  25th  October,  1522. 

At  that  time  and  for  a  year  later  John  Major,  or 
Mair,  Doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  was  Principal  of  the 
Glasgow  University  and  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the 
same.  He  had  some  opinions,  both  ecclesiastical  and 
political,  which  were  considerably  in  advance  of  his  age, 
and  it  has  been  supposed  that  Knox  may  have  received 
from  him  some  of  those  principles  which  he  afterwards 
so  ably  advocated.  But  perhaps  too  much  has  been 
made  of  this  by  the  Reformer's  biographers,  for  Major 
remained  only  one  year  in  Glasgow  after  Knox  had 
been  registered  as  a  student  at  the  University ;  and 
though  he  held  some  liberal  notions  in  politics,  he  was 
in  theology  to  the  last  a  rigid  scholastic.  Moreover,  he 
was  so  far  from  being  a  zealous  promoter  of  the  cause 
of  the  Reformation  that  his  name  appears  as  a  judge 
on  several  of  the  tribunals  at  which  the  early  Scottish 


12  JOHN  KNOX. 

confessors  were  condemned  to  banishment  or  death. 
Taking  these  things  into  consideration  along  with  the 
youth  of  Knox  when  he  first  entered  college,  it  will 
appear  hardly  likely  that  he  received  from  Major  any- 
thing more  than  a  general  impulse  in  the  direction  of 
liberty  and  liberality,  which  prepared  him  to  look  with 
favour  on  the  efforts  of  those  who,  though  they  might 
be  called  innovators,  were  in  reality  only  seeking  to  get 
back  to  the  original  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  and  tne 
primitive  purity  of  the  Church. 

Knox  left  Glasgow  without  taking  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts,  and  there  is  no  evidence  whatever  for 
the  statement  sometimes  made  that  he  was  afterwards 
connected  with  the  University  of  St.  Andrews.  In  fact 
we  lose  sight  of  him  entirely  for  a  period  of  eighteen 
years  from  the  time  of  his  leaving  Glasgow.  During 
that  interval  he  was  ordained  a  priest,  though  by 
whom,  or  at  what  precise  date,  it  is  now  impossible 
to  determine;  but  his  signature  has  been  found,1  as 
notary,  to  an  instrument  in  the  charter-room  at  Tyning- 
hame,  bearing  date  March  27,  1543,  a  fact  which 
establishes  that  up  till  that  time  he  retained  his  cha- 
racter as  a  priest  and  had  the  papal  authority  to  act 
as  a  notary.  With  these  functions  he  seems  to  have 
combined  that  of  a  teacher  of  youth,  for  at  the  time  we 
come  upon  him  in  connection  with  Wishart,  he  had  under 
his  charge  some  young  men  of  good  family  in  the  land. 

1  By  Dr.  David  Laing  :  see  "  Knox's  Works,"  vol.  vi.  pp.  xxii. 
xxiii. 


EARLY  LIFE  AND   CALL    TO    THE   MINISTRY.   13 

We  have  no  details  concerning  his  conversion  from 
the  Romish  to  the  Protestant  faith.  According  to  one 
authority  it  was  Thomas  Guillaume  who  was  "  the  first 
to  give  Mr.  Knox  a  taste  of  the  truth."  That  eloquent 
preacher, — a  native  of  East  Lothian,  who  had  risen  to  a 
high  place  in  the  order  of  the  Dominicans, — had  through 
the  influence  of  the  party  of  progress  been  appointed 
chaplain  to  the  Regent  Arran  at  the  time  when  that 
weak  ruler  was  favouring  the  Reformers.  Knox  himself 
has  described  him  as  "a  man  of  solid  judgment,  reason- 
able letters  (as  for  that  age),  and  of  prompt  and  good 
utterance ;  his  doctrine  was  wholesome  without  great 
vehemency  against  superstition."  It  does  not  appear, 
however,  from  anything  he  says  that  he  ever  came  per- 
sonally into  contact  with  him,  though  it  is  possible  that 
some  of  those  clear  expositions  of  Scripture  for  which 
Guillaume  was  so  esteemed  may  have  been  heard  by 
him,  and  may  have  produced  a  deep  impression  on  his 
mind.  But  beyond  all  question  George  Wishart  was 
the  true  spiritual  father  of  John  Knox.  The  preaching 
and  companionship  of  that  earnest  man  during  that 
journey  through  the  Lothians,  which  ended  in  his  appre- 
hension at  Ormiston,  did  more  for  Knox  than  any  other 
human  instrumentality  whatever.  They  wrought  convic- 
tion in  him,  and  brought  him  out  into  decision,  so  that 
from  the  moment  when  these  two  men  parted  from  each 
other  for  the  last  time  at  the  church  of  Haddington,  it 
was  no  longer  possible  for  Knox  to  return  into  the 
position  of  comparative  obscurity   from  which  he   had 


14  JOHN  KNOX. 

emerged  to  become  the  body-guard  of  Wishart  He 
had  come  prominently  out  on  the  side  of  the  Refor- 
mation, and  the  martyrdom  of  his  teacher  would  only 
deepen  his  determination  that  he  should  not  go  back. 

But  there  was  no  need  for  him  to  throw  his  life  away 
as  a  gratuitous  sacrifice,  and  therefore,  when  he  was 
compelled  to  seek  safety  from  his  persecutors  by  remov- 
ing from  place  to  place,  and  out  of  weariness  was  minded 
to  go  to  Germany,  he  consented,  at  the  earnest  solicita- 
tions of  the  parents  of  his  pupils,  to  find  protection  in 
the  Castle  of  St.  Andrews.  Let  it  be  noted,  however, 
that  he  did  not  enter  that  stronghold  until  the  ioth  of 
April,  1547,  that  is,  more  than  ten  months  after  Beaton's 
murder,  and  therefore  he  is  not  to  be  reckoned  among 
those  who  had  concocted  and  carried  out  the  assassina- 
tion of  that  prelate.  He  was  at  that  date  in  too  obscure 
a  station  to  be  in  any  way,  even  the  most  remote,  asso- 
ciated with  those  who  had  committed  that  foul  murder, 
and  he  went  to  St.  Andrews  simply  that  he  might  be 
able  to  carry  on  uninterruptedly  the  education  of  his 
pupils.  Accordingly,  so  soon  as  he  was  fairly  settled 
there,  he  resumed  the  regular  routine  of  his  work  with 
them.  What  that  was ,  he  has  himself  informed  us  in 
these  words  :  "  Besides  their  grammar  and  other  humane 
authors  "  (that  is,  authors  in  what  were  then  called  the 
humanity  classes)  "he  read  unto  them  a  catechism,  an 
account  whereof  he  caused  them  to  give  publicly  in  the 
parish  church  of  St.  Andrews.  He  read  moreover  unto 
them  the  Gospel  of  John    proceeding  where  he  "  (had) 


EARLY  LIFE  AND    CALL    TO    TI/E   MINISTRY.      15 

"left"  (off)  "at  his  departing  from  Longniddry  where 
before  his  residence  was,  and  that  lecture  he  read  in  the 
chapel  within  the  castle  at  a  certain  hour."  These  pub- 
lic exercises  attracted  to  them  a  large  number  of  those 
who  were  then  sojourning  in  the  castle,  among  whom 
were  Henry  Balnaves  of  Halhill,  a  distinguished  jurist, 
who  had  been  already,  and  was  to  be  again,  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  court  of  session,  and  John  Rough,  who  was 
the  stated  preacher  to  the  congregation  within  the  castle. 
These  men  were  greatly  impressed  alike  with  the  matter, 
the  method,  and  the  manner  of  delivery  of  the  lectures, 
and  seeing  his  fitness  for  the  work,  they  earnestly  en- 
treated Knox  to  enter  at  once  upon  the  office  of  the 
ministry.  But  he  declared  that  "  he  would  not  run 
where  God  had  not  called  him,"  and  peremptorily  re- 
fused to  accede  to  their  request.  Upon  this  they  took 
counsel  with  Sir  David  Lindsay,  of  the  Mount,  and 
others,  and  ultimately  agreed  that  Rough,  without  giving 
any  formal  warning  that  he  was  about  to  do  anything  of 
the  kind,  should  address  to  Knox  a  special  public  call 
in  the  name  and  before  the  face  of  the  congregation. 
Accordingly,  in  the  presence  of  the  people,  and  after 
having  preached  a  sermon  on  the  election  of  minis- 
ters, Rough  turned  to  Knox  and  said,  "  Brother,  ye 
shall  not  be  offended,  albeit  that  I  speak  unto  you  that 
which  I  have  in  charge  even  from  all  those  that  are  here 
present,  which  is  this  :  In  the  name  of  God  and  of  His 
Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  name  of  these  that  pre- 
sently call  you  by  my  mouth,  I  charge  you  that  ye  refuse 


1 6  JOHN  KNOX. 

not  this  holy  vocation,  but  that,  as  ye  tender  the  glory  of 
God,  the  increase  of  Christ's  kingdom,  the  edification 
of  your  brethren,  and  the  comfort  of  me  whom  you 
understand  well  enough  to  be  oppressed  by  the  multi- 
tude of  labours,  that  ye  take  upon  you  the  public  office 
and  charge  of  preaching  even  as  ye  look  to  avoid  God's 
heavy  displeasure,  and  desire  that  He  shall  multiply  His 
graces  with  you/'  Then  turning  to  the  congregation  he 
said,  "  Was  not  this  your  charge  to  me  ?  "  They  an- 
swered, "  It  was,  and  we  approve  it."  The  combined 
suddenness  and  solemnity  of  this  appeal  completely  un- 
manned Knox.  He  burst  into  tears  and  hastened  to 
his  closet,  where  we  may  well  believe  that  he  sought 
light  from  God  ;  and  the  result  was  that  he  was  led  to 
take  up  that  ministry  which  he  laid  down  only  with  his 
life.  Not  from  the  impulse  of  caprice,  or  because  he 
desired  the  position  of  a  preacher,  but  because  he  could 
not  otherwise  meet  the  responsibility  which  God  had  laid 
upon  him,  did  he  enter  upon  that  high  and  honourable 
vocation.  He  was  to  do  a  work  for  his  countrymen  not 
unlike  that  which  Moses  did  for  his  kinsmen,  and  so 
like  Moses  he  was  called  to  it  in  the  full  maturity  of 
his  powers,  and  entered  upon  it  with  the  conviction  that 
God  had  given  him  his  commission,  and  he  dared  not 
disobey. 

Nor  did  he  tarry  long  before  he  began  to  preach,  for 
the  call  of  Providence  came  almost  simultaneously  with 
that  of  the  church.  It  happened  just  then  that  Mr. 
Rough   was   engaged   in  a   controversy  with  a  popish 


EARLY  LIFE  AND   CALL    TO    THE  MINISTRY.   17 

dean  named  Annand.  For  such  a  discussion  Rough 
was  but  poorly  furnished,  since,  as  McCrie  says,  though 
he  was  sound  in  doctrine,  his  literary  acquirements 
were  only  moderate.  In  his  emergency  he  had  been 
much  assisted  by  Knox,  who  made  such  good  use  of 
the  pen  that  he  beat  back  his  adversary  from  all  his 
defences.  As  a  last  resort  Annand  took  refuge  in  the 
authority  of  the  Church,  upon  which  Knox  at  once  ex- 
claimed, in  the  hearing  of  those  who  were  present  at 
the  discussion,  that  a  distinction  must  be  drawn  be- 
tween the  true  spouse  of  Christ  and  the  Church  of 
Rome,  and  offered  to  prove  by  word  or  writing  that  the 
Papal  Church  had  degenerated  from  that  of  primitive 
times  more  than  the  Jews  who  crucified  the  Saviour 
had  fallen  from  the  ordinances  of  Moses.  On  hearing 
this,  the  people  alleged  that  they  could  not  all  read  his 
writings,  but  could  all  listen  to  his  preaching,  and  there- 
fore insisted,  in  the  name  of  God,  that  he  would  let 
them  hear  his  proof  of  the  assertion  which  he  had  made. 
Such  an  appeal  was  not  to  be  resisted,  and  therefore  on 
the  very  next  Sunday  Knox  entered  the  pulpit,  and 
preached  (from  the  text  Daniel  vii.  24,  25)  a  sermon,  in 
which,  after  having  given  the  true  marks  of  the  Church, 
he  went  on  to  expose  the  corruptions  of  the  Romish 
clergy  in  their  lives,  the  erroneous  doctrine  taught  by 
them,  especially  in  the  matter  of  justification,  and  the 
enslaving  laws  enjoined  by  them  in  regard  to  days,  and 
meats,  and  marriage.  In  particular  he  inveighed  against 
the   blasphemies   of  popery.     He  identified   the  Papal 

c 


1 8  JOHN  KNOX. 

Church  with  the  Babylonian  harlot  in  the  book  of  the 
Revelation,  and  concluded  by  demanding  the  most 
thorough  investigation  of  all  the  statements  which  he 
had  made,  and  the  most  minute  examination  of  the 
authorities  whom  he  had  cited.  This  discourse  was 
listened  to  by  a  large  assembly,  among  whom  was  John 
Major,  his  old  Glasgow  principal,  and  it  produced  a 
great  effect  upon  all.  Some  said,  "Others  lopped  off 
the  branches  of  the  papistry,  but  he  strikes  at  the  root 
to  destroy  the  whole."  Others  predicted  that  he  would 
meet  the  fate  of  Wishart,  who  had  never  spoken  quite 
so  plainly  as  Knox  had  done  that  day.  The  new  arch- 
bishop of  St.  Andrews,  not  yet  consecrated  to  his  office, 
expostulated  with  the  vicar-general  of  the  diocese  for 
allowing  such  heretical  doctrines  to  be  promulgated 
without  opposition,  and  that  led  to  the  calling  of  a 
convention  of  the  learned  men  of  the  abbey  and  the 
university,  before  which  Rough  and  Knox  were  sum- 
moned to  make  answer  to  nine  articles,  involving  here- 
sies, which  had  been  drawn  from  their  sermons.  But 
nothing  more  serious  resulted  from  that  meeting  than  a 
debate  between  Knox  and  a  friar  named  Arbuckle, 
whose  arguments  Knox  easily  refuted,  and  that  too  with 
a  considerable  mixture  of  the  grim  humour  which  ever 
and  anon  laughs  outright  in  the  pages  of  his  history. 
Clearly,  therefore,  it  would  be  a  perilous  thing  for 
the  Church  to  let  such  a  man  do  all  the  preaching  to 
the  people ;  and  so  orders  were  issued  that  each  of  the 
learned  men  in  the  abbey  and  university  should  preach 


EARLY  LIFE  AND   CALL    TO    THE  MINISTRY.     19 

in  his  own  turn  on  the  Sundays  in  the  parish  church. 
This  deprived  Knox  of  the  opportunity  of  addressing 
the  congregation  on  those  days  when  the  greatest  num- 
bers were  in  attendance  ;  but  he  continued  his  ministry 
on  the  other  days  of  the  week,  and  that  with  such  suc- 
cess that  although  it  lasted  in  all  at  this  time  not  more 
than  three  months,  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
renounced  popery,  and  made  confession  of  the  Protes- 
tant faith  by  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper  in  the 
reformed  manner,  the  first  occasion  on  which  the  ordin- 
ance was  publicly  administered  in  Scotland  after  that 
fashion. 

Thus  the  beginning  of  Knox's  work  marks  a  distinct 
stage  in  the  history  of  the  Scottish  Reformation.  At  first, 
and  under  what  has  been  called  by  Lorimer  the  Ham- 
ilton period,  peculiar  emphasis  was  laid  upon  the  truths 
which  were  revived  in  the  teaching  of  Luther ;  under 
the  Wishart  period  the  doctrine  of  the  sacraments  came 
into  prominence,  and  then  first  the  influence  of  Switzer- 
land began  to  be  felt  by  Scotland ;  but  under  Knox 
attention  was  directed  especially  to  the  nature  and  con- 
stitution of  the  church,  and  the  first  sermon  which  he 
preached,  and  of  which  we  have  given  the  barest  outline, 
had  already  in  it  "  the  promise  and  the  potency  "  of  the 
great  work  which  he  was  yet  to  accomplish  for  his  native 
land. 


CHAPTER  II. 
In  the  French  Galleys,   15 47-1 549. 

DURING  the  months  which  had  elapsed  since  the 
time  when  the  Castle  of  St.  Andrews  had  become 
a  refuge  for  those  who  had  so  summarily  and  unscru- 
pulously murdered  Beaton,  changes  had  occurred  both 
in  England  and  in  France  which  deeply  affected  their 
interests.  Henry  VIII.  died  on  the  28th  January,  1547, 
and  for  a  short  time  during  the  minority  of  Edward  the 
reins  of  government  had  been  virtually  given  into  the 
hands  of  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  under  the  name  of 
Protector.  This  deprived  the  besieged  of  their  most 
powerful  friend,  for  although  after  Henry's  decease  the 
Privy  Council  fulfilled  his  directions  and  voted  money  to 
Leslie  and  others  as  individuals,  together  with  a  certain 
sum  for  the  maintenance  of  a  garrison  in  the  castle,  yet 
Somerset  took  little  further  care  of  those  who  remained 
within  its  shelter,  and  left  them  virtually  to  their  own 
resources.  The  death  of  Francis  I.  of  France,  which 
took  place  on  the  31st  of  March  in  the  same  year, 
added  to  their  danger,  for  he  was  succeeded  by  Henry 

II.,  who  as  Dauphin  had  been  the  leader  of  the  party 

20 


IN  7HE  FRENCH  GALLEYS.  21 

most  opposed  to  England,  and  who  was  therefore  by  no 
means  indisposed  to  do  anything  that  would  tend  to 
widen  the  breach  between  that  country  and  his  own. 
When  therefore  Somerset,  unwisely  insisting  on  reviving 
the  pretensions  of  feudal  superiority  over  Scotland  which 
had  been  put  forth  by  Edward  L,  permitted  the  Borders 
to  be  wasted  by  fire  and  sword,  and  urged  the  French  to 
abstain  from  interference,  he  was  met  with  the  reply  that 
their  king  "  might  not  suffer  the  old  friends  of  France 
to  be  oppressed  and  alienated  from  him."  In  France, 
therefore,  the  Regent  Arran  and  the  queen-mother  found 
a  willing  ally,  and  in  the  beginning  of  June  Leo  Strozzi, 
prior  of  Capua,  appeared  with  a  fleet  of  French  galleys 
in  sight  of  the  Castle  of  St.  Andrews,  and  demanded  the 
surrender  of  its  inmates.  According  to  agreement  this 
was  conditioned  on  the  reception  from  Rome  of  absolu- 
tion for  the  murderers  of  Beaton.  But  although  Strozzi 
brought  absolution  with  him,  it  was  expressed  in  such  an 
equivocal  form, — "  Remittimus  irremissibile,"  we  pardon 
that  which  is  unpardonable, — that  the  persons  interested 
refused  to  accept  it,  and  the  siege  was  renewed.  Arran, 
hearing  of  the  arrival  of  his  allies,  hastened  from  the 
west  country  to  co-operate  with  them,  and  the  result 
was  such  as  might  have  been  expected.  For  this  time 
the  defenders  had  to  contend  with  skilled  gunners,  be- 
fore whose  batteries,  as  Knox  had  forewarned  them 
would  be  the  case,  "  their  walls  were  no  better  than  egg- 
shells." From  the  steeple  of  St.  Salvador's  College  and 
the  towers  of  the  Abbey,  as  well  as  from  the  galleys  in 


22  JOHN  KNOX. 

the  bay,  the  cannon  of  their  assailants  poured  shot  in 
upon  them,  while  within  the  walls  the  plague  broke  out 
with  virulence.  So  in  the  end  of  July  Kirkcaldy  of 
Grange  went  forth  with  a  flag  of  truce  to  make  the 
best  possible  terms  with  the  victors.  The  conditions 
obtained  were  that  the  lives  of  all  within  the  castle, 
whether  English  or  Scotch,  should  be  spared  ;  that  they 
should  be  safely  transported  to  France  ;  and  that  in  case, 
upon  conditions  that  by  the  king  of  France  should  be 
offered  unto  them,  they  could  not  be  content  to  remain 
in  service  and  freedom  there,  they  should,  at  the  expense 
of  the  king  of  France,  be  safely  conveyed  to  what 
country  they  would  require,  other  than  Scotland.  These 
promises,  however,  were  shamefully  broken,  for  the  van- 
quished were  taken  on  board  the  vessels  which  had 
been  plentifully  loaded  with  the  spoils  of  the  castle,  and 
carried  to  France,  where  they  were  held  in  bondage  for 
many  months.  One  detachment  of  them  was  taken  to 
Cherbourg,  and  another  to  Mount  St.  Michael.  Knox 
himself  was  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  galley-slave. 

We  have  no  connected  account  of  his  experiences  in 
this  time  of  trial,  but  here  and  there  "in  his  works  he  has 
dropped  incidental  hints  which  give  us  glimpses  of  his 
sufferings,  and  of  the  manner  in  which  they  were  endured 
by  him.  In  his  history  of  the  Reformation,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  account  of  an  effort  made  by  some  of  his 
friends  to  dissuade  him  in  the  year  1559  from  preaching 
in  St.  Andrews,  we  have  a  report  of  the  answer  which  he 
gave  to  them,  and  in  that  occurs  the  following  passage  : 


IN   THE   FRENCH  GALLEYS.  23 

"  In  this  town  and  church  began  God  first  to  call  me  to 
the  dignity  of  a  preacher,  from  the  which  I  was  reft  by 
the  tyranny  of  France  by  procurement  of  the  bishops  as 
ye  all  well  enough  know.  How  long  I  continued  pri- 
soner, what  torment  I  sustained  in  the  galleys,  and  what 
were  the  sobs  of  my  heart,  is  now  no  time  to  consider." 
An  equally  pathetic  reference  to  his  misery  during  this 
season  of  bondage,  and  to  his  solace  under  it,  is  to  be 
found  in  his  treatise  on  the  true  nature  and  object  of 
prayer,  in  which  after  having  referred  to  the  words, 
(Ps.  vii.  16,  17)  "His  mischief  shall  return  upon  his  own 
head,  and  his  violent  dealings  shall  come  down  upon  his 
own  pate.  I  will  praise  the  Lord  according  to  His 
righteousness,  and  will  sing  praise  to  the  name  of  the 
Lord  most  high/'  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  This  is  not  written 
for  David  only,  but  for  all  such  as  shall  suffer  tribulation 
to  the  end  of  the  world.  For  I,  the  writer  hereof  (let 
this  be  said  to  the  laud  and  praise  of  God  alone),  in 
anguish  of  mind  and  vehement  tribulation  and  affliction, 
called  to  the  Lord,  when  not  only  the  ungodly,  but  even 
my  faithful  brethren,  yea  and  mine  own  self,  that  is  all 
natural  understanding  in  me,  judged  my  cause  to  be 
irremediable  ;  and  yet  in  my  greatest  calamity,  and  when 
my  pains  were  most  cruel,  would  His  eternal  wisdom 
that  I  should  write  far  contrary  to  the  judgment  of  carnal 
wisdom,  which  His  mercy  has  proved  true.  Blessed  be 
His  holy  name  !  And  therefore  I  dare  be  bold,  in  the 
verity  of  God's  word  to  promise  that  notwithstanding  the 
vehemence  of  trouble,  the  long  continuance  thereof,  the 


24  JOHN  KNOX. 

dispersion  of  all  men,  the  fearfulness,  danger,  dolor,  and 
anguish  of  our  hearts ;  yet  if  we  call  constantly  to  God, 
that  beyond  expectation  of  all  men,  He  shall  deliver." 
There  can  be  little  doubt,  as  Dr.  Laing  remarks  in  a 
foot-note  to  this  passage,  that  Knox  here  refers  to  his 
bodily  and  mental  sufferings  during  his  confinement  on 
board  the  French  galley,  and  so  we  see  that  his  faith 
was  not  a  mere  sentimental  thing,  that,  as  he  has  him- 
self elsewhere  expressed  it,  he  was  no  mere  "  speculative 
theologue,"  but  indeed  a  steadfast  believer,  who  had 
proved  God's  faithfulness  to  His  promise  even  in  the 
sorest  tribulation. 

Again  in  the  epistle  to  the  congregation  of  the  Castle 
of  St.  Andrews  prefixed  by  him  to  the  tract  on  Justifi- 
cation by  Faith,  which  his  friend  Henry  Balnaves  had 
written  during  his  imprisonment  at  Rouen,  we  find 
among  other  allusions  to  his  support  under  his  sufferings 
the  following  words :  "  I  exhort  that  ye  read  diligently 
this  treatise,  not  only  with  earnest  prayer  that  ye  may 
understand  the  same  aright,  but  also  with  humble  and 
due  thanksgiving  unto  our  most  merciful  Father,  who  of 
His  infinite  power  hath  so  strengthened  the  hearts  of  His 
prisoners,  that  in  despite  of  Satan  they  desist  not  yet  to 
work,  but  in  the  most  vehemency  of  tribulation  seek  the 
utility  and  salvation  of  others." 

And  in  a  letter  written  in  December,  1559,  he  speaks 
of  "  all  the  torments  of  the  galleys  "  in  such  a  way  as  to 
lead  us  to  conclude  that  he  was  subjected  to  the  greatest 
hardships.     Once  more,  and  perhaps  most  pathetically  of 


IN  THE  FRENCH  GALLEYS.  25 

all,  in  that  letter  to  the  congregation  of  Berwick  which  Dr. 
Lorimer  first  printed  in  his  "  John  Knox  and  the  Church 
of  England,"  and  to  which  we  shall  have  to  make  fuller 
reference  by-and-by,  he  thus  writes  :  "  This  day  I  am 
more  vile  and  of  low  reputation  in  my  own  eyes  than  I 
was  either  that  day  that  my  feet  were  chained  in  tlu 
prison  of  dolor  (the  galleys  I  mean),  or  yet  that  day  that 
I  was  delivered  by  His  only  providence  from  the  same." 
It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  his  sufferings  were  severe,  and 
while  he  endured  them  with  a  fortitude  that  was  sus- 
tained by  his  faith  in  God,  he  was  careful  also  to  main- 
tain always  a  conscience  void  of  offence.  He  tells  us 
that  those  who  were  in  the  galleys  "  were  threatened 
with  torments  if  they  would  not  give  reverence  to  the 
mass,  but  they  could  never  make  the  poorest  of  that 
company  to  give  reverence  to  that  idol."  He  adds  the 
following  narrative,  and  from  the  ironic  humour  that 
plays  about  his  style  as  he  recites  it,  we  cannot  doubt 
that  he  was  himself  the  hero  of  the  story.  "  Soon  after 
the  arrival  at  Nantes,  their  great  salve  was  sung,  and  a 
glorious  (gaudy)  painted  board  was  brought  in  to  be 
kissed,  and  amongst  others  was  presented  to  one  of  the 
Scotchmen  then  chained.  He  gently  said,  '  Trouble  me 
not ;  such  an  idol  is  accursed,  and  therefore  I  will  not 
touch  it.'  The  patron  and  the  arguesyn  {i.e.  sergeant 
who  commanded  the  formats)  with  two  officers,  having  the 
chief  charge  of  all  such  matters,  said,  '  Thou  shalt  handle 
it,'  and  so  they  violently  thrust  it  to  his  face,  and  put  it 
betwixt  his  hands,  who  seeing  the  extremity,  taking  the 


26  JOHN  KNOX. 

idol,  and  advisedly  looking  about,  he  cast  it  into  the 
river,  and  said,  '  Let  our  lady  now  save  herself ;  she  is 
light  enough ;  let  her  learn  to  swim.'  After  that  was  no 
Scotchman  urged  with  that  idolatry." 

But  sorely  bestead  as  he  was  in  his  captivity,  he  would 
not  sanction  any  attempt  to  escape  which  should  savour 
of  violence.  Though  himself  innocent  of  all  complicity 
in  Beaton's  murder,  he  had  seen  the  cause  which  he 
had  at  heart  so  greatly  hindered  by  the  consequences 
of  that  evil  deed,  and  he  was  withal  so  utterly  opposed 
to  everything  which  he  believed  that  God  had  for- 
bidden, that  he  would  be  no  party  to  doing  evil  that 
good  might  come.  Accordingly  when  Kirkcaldy  and 
two  other  friends  who  were  confined  with  him  at  Mount 
St.  Michael  wrote  to  him  to  inquire  whether  they  might 
with  safe  conscience  break  their  prison,  he  replied,  that 
if  without  the  shedding  of  any  blood  they  could  set 
themselves  at  liberty,  they  might  do  so  without  sin, 
but  that  he  would  never  consent  to  their  slaying  of 
others  in  order  to  obtain  deliverance.  He  added  the 
expression  of  his  own  assurance  that  God  Himself  would 
work  out  their  enlargement  in  such  a  way  that  "  the 
praise  thereof  should  redound  to  His  glory  alone."  Nor 
was  that  with  him  a  mere  temporary  or  intermittent 
sentiment.  It  was  the  settled  conviction  of  his  soul; 
for  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  captivity  when  one  of 
his  fellow-prisoners  would  often  ask  him  if  he  thought 
that  they  should  ever  be  delivered,  his  invariable  answer 
was  that  "  God  would  deliver  them  from  that  bond.ige 


IN  THE   FRENCH  GALLEYS.  27 

to  His  glory,  even  in  this  life."  Nor  did  he  falter,  even 
when  his  own  strength  seemed  ebbing  out,  for  when  the 
galleys  had  returned  to  Scotland  in  the  summer  of  1548, 
and  were  lying  between  Dundee  and  St.  Andrews,  while 
he  himself  was  so  reduced  by  illness  that  his  life  was 
despaired  of,  the  same  companion  bidding  him  look  to 
the  land,  asked  him  if  he  knew  it,  whereupon  he  made 
reply,  "  Yes,  I  know  it  well,  for  I  see  the  steeple  of  that 
place  where  God  first  opened  my  mouth  to  His  glory, 
and  I  am  fully  persuaded,  how  weak  soever  I  now  appear, 
that  I  shall  not  depart  this  life  till  that  my  tongue  shall 
glorify  His  holy  name  in  the  same  place "  He  tells 
this  almost  as  if  he  believed  that  the  Spirit  of  prophecy 
spoke  through  him  at  the  moment;  but  it  is  not 
necessary  for  us,  while  admitting  the  full  truth  of  the 
narrative,  to  accept  any  such  explanation.  If  his 
anticipation  had  not  been  verified,  his  words  might  have 
been  entirely  forgotten  ;  and  the  probability  is  that  his 
conviction  rested  rather  upon  his  general  apprehension 
of  the  principles  of  the  Divine  administration,  than  upon 
any  supernatural  communication  of  a  special  sort.  The 
Psalmist  writes  that  "  the  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with 
them  that  fear  Him ; "  and  this  gracious  illumination, 
which  is  the  heritage  of  all  in  the  proportion  in  which 
they  possess  the  character  with  which  it  is  associated, 
is  sufficient  to  account  for  the  correctness  of  his  im- 
pression, without  having  recourse  to  the  theory  of  pro- 
phetic inspiration.  That  even  Knox  himself  would  have 
thus  regarded  this  matter,  seems  clear  from  a  passage  in 


28  JOHN  KNOX. 

his  "  Faithful  Admonition  to  the  Professors  of  God's 
Truth  in  England,"  which  Dr.  Lorimer  thinks  is  of 
standard  authority  as  giving  the  principle  of  interpreta- 
tion for  all  those  places  in  which  he  speaks  in  what 
may  be  called  a  prophetic  tone  and  manner ;  and  in 
which  it  has  sometimes  been  thought  that  he  spoke 
not  without  some  endowment  of  supernatural  insight 
and  foreknowledge.  We  quote  the  following  sentences  : 
"  But  ye  would  know  the  grounds  of  my  certitude. 
God  grant  that  hearing  them,  ye  may  understand 
and  steadfastly  believe  the  same.  My  assurances  are 
not  marvels  of  Merlin,  nor  yet  the  dark  sentences  of 
profane  prophecies;  but  (i)  the  plain  truth  of  God's 
word,  (2)  the  invincible  justice  of  the  everlasting  God, 
and  (3)  the  ordinary  course  of  His  punishments  and 
plagues  from  the  beginning,  are  my  assurances  and 
grounds  "  (p.  85). 

But  however  we  may  account  for  the  assurance  which 
he  felt,  his  forecast  of  the  future  was  certainly  remark- 
ably fulfilled ;  and  there  are  few  contrasts  in  history  more 
striking  and  suggestive  than  that  between  the  weak  and 
apparently  dying  galley-slave  looking  longingly  on  the 
shores  of  his  native  land  ;  and  the  energetic  Reformer 
of  a  later  date,  of  whom  the  English  ambassador  wrote 
to  Cecil  saying  :  "  I  assure  you  the  voice  of  one  man  is 
able  in  an  hour  to  put  more  life  in  us  than  six  hundred 
trumpets  continually  blustering  in  our  ears." 


B 


CHAPTER  III. 

Ministry  in  Berwick-on-Tweed,  i 549-1 550. 

Y  what  means  Knox  obtained  his  release  from  the 
galling  servitude  in  which  he  had  been  held  by 
the  French,  we  have  not  been  able  to  discover ;  but  it 
is  believed  that  he  was  indebted  for  it  to  the  intercession 
of  England,  and  it  is  certain  that  in  the  early  part  of 
the  year  1549,  he  was  employed  by  the  Privy  Council 
of  that  country  as  one  of  the  ministers'whom  its  mem- 
bers commissioned  to  preach  the  doctrines  of  the 
Reformation  thoughout  the  kingdom.  The  probability 
is  that  he  arrived  in  London  about  the  month  of  Feb- 
ruary, and  it  is  conjectured  that  as  Henry  Balnaves  was 
in  that  city  as  a  commissioner  from  the  besieged  in  St. 
Andrews,  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  Henry  VIII., 
Knox,  who  had  just  then  entered  upon  his  ministry, 
may  have  been  beholden  to  his  friend  for  bringing  his 
name  to  the  favourable  notice  of  the  English  Reform- 
ers. But  however  that  may  have  been,  we  come  upon 
authentic  and  reliable  information,  when  we  find  in  the 
register  of  the  Privy  Council,  under  date  April  7th,  1549, 
an  entry  authorizing  the  payment   of  five   pounds  "  to 


JOHN  KNOX. 

John  Knox,  preacher,  by  way  of  reward."  Besides  this, 
his  name  occurs  as  the  sixty-fourth  in  a  list  of  eighty  who 
obtained  licence  to  preach  in  England  during  the  reign 
of  Edward  the  Sixth.  He  himself  informs  us  in  his 
History,  that  "he  was  first  appointed  preacher  to 
Berwick,  then  to  Newcastle ;  last  he  was  called  to 
London  and  to  the  southern  parts  of  England,  where 
he  remained  till  the  death  of  Edward  the  Sixth."  This 
is  all  that  he  has  said  directly  in  that  work  concerning 
his  residence  in  England  j  but  so  much  new  light  has 
been  shed  on  this  part  of  the  Reformer's  career  by  the 
painstaking  and  elaborate  monogram  of  Dr.  Lorimer, 
that  we  are  now  able  to  follow  his  steps  with  something 
like  minuteness. 

He  was  settled  first  at  the  border  town  of  Berwick-on- 
Tweed,  which  in  those  days  was  "  the  focus  of  a  long 
and  bloody  war  between  the  two  kingdoms,  which  had 
begun  with  the  tremendous  slaughter  of  the  Scots  at 
Pinkey  in  the  autumn  of  1547,  and  in  which  the  Scots, 
having  received  large  assistance  from  France,  were  still 
able  to  maintain  so  vigorous  a  defence  that  there  was  no 
near  prospect  of  a  return  of  peace."  l  Thus  it  happened 
that  its  garrison  was  larger  than  ordinary,  and  everything 
about  the  place  was  volcanic.  Quarrels  among  the 
soldiers  were  common,  and  the  civilians  themselves  were 
not  over  peaceful,  so  that  the  chronic  state  of  the  town 
was  one  of  disorder.  John  Brende,  "  master  of  the 
musters,"  reports  to  the  Protector  Somerset  concerning 
1  Lorimer,  p.  17. 


MINISTRY  IN  BERWICK- ON- TWEED.  31 

it  :  "  There  is  better  order  among  the  Tartars  than  in 
this  town ;  the  whole  picture  of  the  place  is  one  of 
social  disorder  and  the  worst  police." l  Besides  all  this, 
the  great  majority  of  the  people  were  as  yet  probably 
papists,  for  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation  had  made 
little  progress  thus  far  in  the  northern  counties,  and 
matters  ecclesiastical  were  very  unsettled.  In  March 
of  that  year  the  first  Prayer- Book  of  Edward  VI.  was 
sanctioned  by  Parliament  and  published  for  the  use  of 
the  Church.  The  new  liturgy  still  retained  much  of  the 
leaven  of  sacerdotalism  and  sacramentarianism,  but  it 
was  decidedly  in  advance  of  anything  which  could  have 
been  issued  in  the  days  of  Henry  VIII.  It  was 
thoroughly  approved  by  but  a  portion  of  the  bishops, 
and  there  were  several  counties  in  the  remoter  parts  of 
the  kingdom  where  it  was  never  introduced  at  all. 
Tunstall,  then  Bishop  of  Durham,  who  was  no  friend 
to  the  cause  of  reform,  was  in  no  haste  to  give  effect  to 
the  new  legislation  ;  and  the  council  of  the  north,  to 
which  was  committed  the  care  of  public  affairs  in  that 
then  distant  corner  of  the  realm,  probably  thought  it 
advisable  to  refrain  from  enforcing  it  upon  the  people, 
until  they  were  prepared,  by  the  instructions  of  some 
eminent  preacher,  for  receiving  and  obeying  it.  Thus 
we  account  for  the  fact  that,  all  the  time  he  was  in 
Berwick,  Knox  was  left  very  much  to  his  own  discretion 
as  to  the  doctrines  which  he  preached,  and  the  methods 

1  Lorimer,  p.  1 8 


32  JOHN  KNOX. 

which  he  adopted  for  the  conduct  of  Divine  service  and 
the  administration  of  the  sacraments. 

Already  in  his  preface  to  Balnaves's  treatise  on 
Justification,  the  first  of  his  printed  productions  so  far 
as  can  be  traced,  he  had  written  a  summary  of  his  belief 
on  that  great  central  doctrine ;  and  in  his  disputation 
with  Arbuckle  in  St.  Andrews,  he  had  been  truly 
charged  with  holding  the  following  opinions — viz.  first, 
man  may  neither  make  nor  devise  a  religion  that  is 
acceptable  to  God,  but  is  bound  to  observe  and  keep 
the  religion  that  from  God  is  received  without  chopping 
or  changing  thereof ;  second,  the  sacraments  of  the  New 
Testament  ought  to  be  ministered  as  they  were  insti- 
tuted by  Christ  Jesus  and  practised  by  the  apostles, 
nothing  ought  to  be  added  to  them,  nothing  ought  to  be 
diminished  from  them ;  third,  the  mass  is  abominable 
idolatry,  blasphemous  to  the  death  of  Christ,  and  a 
profanation  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  When  therefore  he 
began  his  labours  at  Berwick  he  set  himself  to  the 
proclamation  of  the  great  truths  which  radiate  from 
the  priesthood  of  Christ ;  and  in  his  dispensation  of  the 
supper  he  followed  an  order  of  his  own,  which  was  not 
improbably  the  same  as  he  had  adopted  in  the  Castle 
of  St.  Andrews.  This  is  put  beyond  dispute  by  his 
letter  to  the  congregation  of  Berwick,  written  probably 
about  the  close  of  1552,  and  the  fragment  entitled  "The 
Practice  of  the  Lord's  Supper  used  in  Berwick-upon- 
Tweed  by  John  Knox,  preacher  to  the  congregation  of 
the  Church  there,"  both  of  which  are  to  be  found  in 


MINISTRY  IN  BERWICK-1N-TWEED.  33 

Dr.  Lorimer's  Appendix.  The  matter  is  of  more  than 
mere  antiquarian  interest,  and  we  may  therefore  make 
one  or  two  extracts  from  the  more  important  of  these 
documents. 

In  regard  to  his  preaching  he  thus  writes  :  "  As  for 
the  variety  and  diversity  of  opinions  touching  the 
doctrine  and  chief  points  of  religion  which  ye  have 
received,  God  I  take  to  witness,  and  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  before  whom  at  once  shall  all  flesh  appear, 
that  I  never  taught  unto  you,  nor  unto  any  others  my 
auditory,  that  doctrine  as  necessary  to  be  believed 
which  I  did  not  find  written  in  God's  holy  law  and 
testament.  And,  therefore,  in  that  case  with  Paul  I 
will  say,  '  If  an  angel  from  heaven  shall  teach  unto 
you  another  gospel  than  ye  have  heard  and  externally 
received,  let  him  be  accursed.'"  Then  after  stating  in  a 
positive  form  what  he  understands  by  the  gospel  he 
adds  :  "  If  in  any  of  these  chief  and  principal  points 
any  man  vary  from  that  doctrine  which  ye  have  pro- 
fessed, let  him  be  accursed:1  (1)  as  if  any  man  teach 
any  other  cause  moving  God  to  elect  and  choose  us  than 
His  own  infinite  goodness  and  mere  mercy;  (2)  any 
other  name  in  heaven  or  under  the  heaven  wherein 
salvation  stands,  but  only  the  name  of  Jesus;  (3)  any 
other  means  whereby  we  are  justified  and  absolved  from 
wrath  and  damnation  that  our  sins  deserve,  than  by  faith 
only ;  (4)  any  other  cause  or  end  of  good  works  than 
that  first  we  are  made  good  trees,  and  thereafter  bring 
1  Lorimer,  pp.  257-8. 

D 


34  JOHN  KNOX. 

forth  fruits  accordingly,  to  witness  that  we  are  livel> 
members  of  Christ's  holy  and  most  sanctified  body,  pre- 
pared vessels  to  the  honour  and  praise  of  our  Father's 
glory  ;  (5)  if  any  teach  prayers  to  be  made  to  other  than 
God  above ;  (6)  if  any  Mediator  betwixt  God  and  man, 
but  only  our  Lord  Jesus  ;  (7)  if  more  or  other  sacraments 
be  affirmed  or  required  to  be  used  than  Christ  Jesus 
left  ordinary  in  His  Church,  to  wit,  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Table,  or  mystical  supper;  (8)  if  any  deny  remis- 
sion of  sins,  resurrection  of  the  flesh  and  life  everlasting 
to  appertain  to  us  in  Christ's  blood,  which,  sprinkled  in 
our  hearts  by  faith,  doth  purge  us  from  all  sin;  so  that 
we  need  no  more  nor  other  sacrifices  than  that  oblation 
once  offered  for  all,  by  the  which  God's  elect  be  fully 
sanctified  and  made  perfect ;  if  any  I  say,  require  any 
other  sacrifice  to  be  made  for  sins  than  Christ's  death, 
which  once  He  suffered,  or  any  other  manner  whereby 
Christ's  death  may  be  applied  to  man,  than  by  faith 
only,  which  also  is  the  gift  of  God,  so  that  man  hath 
no  cause  to  glory  in  works  ;  and  yet,  if  any  deny  good 
works  to  be  profitable  as  not  necessary  to  a  true  Chris- 
tian profession,  let  the  affirmers,  teachers,  or  maintainers 
of  such  a  doctrine  be  accursed  of  you,  as  they  are  of 
God  unless  they  repent."  In  these  articles  we  are  struck 
with  the  absence  of  all  reference  to  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
regeneration  ;  but  we  have  many  allusions  to  these  sub- 
jects elsewhere,  some,  indeed,  in  this  very  document, 
and  we  may  suppose  that  as  it  was  specifically  the 
mediatorial  work  of  Christ  that  was  then  in  controversy, 


MINISTRY  IN  BERWICK-ON-TWEED.  35 

he  designedly  restricted  himself  to  that.  Bat  from  this 
summary,  brief  as  it  is,  we  learn  that  even  at  this  early 
date,  long  before  he  had  visited  Geneva,  or  met  Calvin, 
Knox  had  found  his  own  way  by  the  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures to  those  views  of  gospel  truth  which  are  now 
associated  with  the  name  of  the  great  Frenchman  ;  and 
that  they  formed  the  chief  themes  of  his  public  discourse 
at  Berwick  is  evident  from  the  solemn  words  with  which 
he  has  here  introduced  their  enumeration. 

Nor  was  his  proclamation  of  them  there  in  vain ;  for 
in  his  vindication  of  himself,  at  a  later  date  before 
Queen  Mary  of  Scotland,  from  the  charge  of  causing 
great  sedition  and  slaughter  in  England,  and  securing 
his  ends  by  necromancy,  he  said  among  other  things, 
"  I  shame  not  further  to  affirm  that  God  so  blessed  my 
weak  labours,  that  in  Berwick,  where  commonly  before 
there  used  to  be  slaughter  by  reason  of  quarrels  that 
used  to  arise  among  the  soldiers,  there  was  as  great 
quietness  all  the  time  that  I  remained  there,  as  there  is 
this  day  in  Edinburgh."  1  Besides  this,  there  is  in  the 
letter  from  which  we  have  quoted  abundant  evidence 
that  his  biographer  was  not  wrong  when  be  affirmed 
that  during  his  two  years  in  Berwick  numbers  were 
converted  and  a  visible  reformation  was  produced  upon 
the  soldiers  of  the  garrison  who  had  been  notorious 
for  turbulence  and  licentiousness. 

But  his  procedure  in  regard  to  the  Lord's  Supper 
was  even  more  remarkable  for  its  independence,  than 
1  Lorimer,  p.  16. 


36  JOHN  KNOX. 

the  tenour  of  his  discourses  was  for  its  adherence  to  the 
Pauline  theology.  In  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
issued  by  the  joint  authorization  of  Convocation  and 
Parliament  in  1549,  the  rubric  for  the  Lord's  Supper 
provided  that  bread  "unleavened  and  round  as  it  was 
afore"  should  be  used.  But  in  regard  to  that  Knox 
took  the  bold  course  of  ignoring  the  authoritative 
rubrics.  He  substituted  common  bread  for  the  wafer, 
and  he  administered  the  "  elements "  to  the  people 
while  they  sat,  according  to  the  form  still  followed  in 
the  nonconforming  churches  of  England,  and  the 
Presbyterian  churches  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  It 
may  seem  to  some  that  this  was  a  defiance  of  the  law ; 
and  perhaps  in  strictest  construction  so  it  was ;  but  it 
is  to  be  remembered  that,  as  yet,  the  law  had  not 
become  operative  in  the  district  to  which  Berwick 
belonged,  and  that  therefore  it  was  open  meanwhile 
for  Knox  to  take  the  course  which  he  believed  to  be 
best.  Thus  he  writes  :l  "  Kneeling  at  the  Lord's 
Supper  I  have  proved  by  doctrine  (teaching)  to  be  no 
convenient  gesture  for  a  table;  (a  gesture)  which  hath 
been  given  in  that  action  to  such  a  presence  of  Christ, 
as  no  place  of  God's  Scripture  doth  teach  unto  us. 
And  therefore,  kneeling  in  that  action,  appearing  to  be 
joined  with  certain  dangers,  no  less  in  maintaining 
superstition  than  in  using  Christ's  holy  institution  with 
other  gestures  than  either  He  used  or  commanded  to 
be  used,  /  thought  good  amongst  you  to  avoid  and  to 
1  Lorimer,  p.  261. 


MINISTRY  IN  BERWICK-ON-TWEED.  37 

use  sitting  at  the  Lord's  Table;  which  ye  did  not  refuse, 
but  with  all  reverence  and  thanksgiving  to  God  for 
His  truth  knowing,  as  I  suppose,  ye  confirmed  the 
doctrine  with  your  gestures  and  confession."  The 
order  which  he  observed1  began  with  a  sermon  on 
the  benefits  given  us  by  God  through  Jesus  Christ ; 
this  was  followed  by  prayer,  after  which  was  read 
the  account  of  the  institution  of  the  ordinance  from 
i  Corinthians  xi.  20-30.  Then  a  declaration  of  "  what 
persons  be  unworthy  to  be  partakers"  was  made; 
after  which  "common  prayer  was  offered  in  the  form 
of  confession."  At  the  conclusion  of  this  prayer, 
some  notable  passage  in  which  God's  mercy  is  most 
evidently  declared  was  read  from  the  gospel,  and 
thereafter  the  minister  pronounced  absolution  to  such 
as  unfeignedly  repent  and  believe  in  Jesus  Christ. 
After  tfris  came  prayer  for  the  congregation  and  for  the 
sovereign. 

At  this  point  the  fragment  which  we  have  been 
following  breaks  off,  but  there  is  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  remainder  of  the  service  was  the  same 
as  that  afterwards  adopted  in  Scotland;  and  any  one 
at  all  conversant  with  the  ecclesiastical  ritual  of  the 
Presbyterian  churches  in  that  country  may  see  in  the 
portion  which  we  have  given  the  origin  of  the  "  action  " 
sermon,  the  "  fencing  of  the  tables ; "  and  the  frequent 
if  not  invariable  use  of  the  passage  from  first  Corinthians 
as  the  "warrant"  for  the  observance  of  the  Supper, 
1  Lorimer,  p.  290. 


38  JOHN  KNOX. 

which  characterize  a  communion  " 
country.  But  the  singular  thing  about  the  matter  is 
that  this  Puritan  and  Presbyterian  form  of  administer- 
ing the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  observed 
in  England  by  John  Knox  when  he  was  labouring  at 
Berwick  as  a  recognised  minister  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  acting  under  the  authority,  or  perhaps, 
to  put  it  more  correctly,  with  the  permission,  of  the 
government.  This  was  at  a  date  anterior  by  ten  years 
to  the  time  when  it  was  introduced  into  Scotland  with 
the  sanction  of  its  Parliament. 

But  it  deserves  notice  that  although  Knox  was  thus 
conscientiously  opposed  to  kneeling  at  the  Lord's  Table, 
he  was  not  so  intolerant  as  to  declare  that  the  taking 
of  that  posture  at  that  table  was  necessarily  sinful.  The 
reader  of  the  letter  addressed  to  the  congregation  at 
Berwick  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with  the  broad  Pauline 
spirit  manifested  by  the  Reformer  in  his  treatment  of 
this  subject.  He  is  advising  his  friends  as  to  what 
they  should  do  if,  now  that  he  had  ceased  to  have 
the  oversight  of  them,  the  practice  of  kneeling  at  the 
communion  table  should  be  insisted  upon;  and  he 
affirms  that  he  neither  recants  nor  repents  his  former 
teaching,  but  still  prefers  sitting  to  any  other  posture ; 
yet  he  adds1  "  because  I  am  but  one  having  in  my 
contrair,  magistrates,  common  order,  and  judgments 
of  many  learned,  I  am  not  minded  for  maintenance  of 
that  one  thing  to  gainstand  the  magistrates  in  all  and 
1  Lorimer,  pp.  261-2. 


MINISTRY  IN  BERWICK-ON -TWEED.  39 

other  chief  points  of  religion  agreeing  with  Christ,  and 
His  true  doctrine,  nor  yet  to  break  nor  trouble  common 
Order,  thought  meet  to  be  kept  for  unity  and  peace 
in  the  congregations  for  a  time.  And  least  of  all  do  I 
intend  to  condemn  or  lightly  regard  the  grave  judgments 
of  such  men  as  unfeignedly  I  fear  (reverence),  love  and 
will  obey,  in  all  things  judged  expedient  to  promote 
God's  glory,  these  subsequents  granted  to  me."  Then 
follow  three  conditions  which  may  be  summarized 
thus, — first,  that  the  magistrates  make  known  that 
kneeling  is  not  required  for  any  superstitious  reasons 
or  for  any  adoration  of  Christ's  natural  body  believed 
to  be  there  present,  but  only  for  the  sake  of  uniform 
Order  and  that  for  a  time ;  second,  that  kneeling  is  not 
imposed  as  a  thing  essential  to  the  right  observance 
of  the  ordinance,  or  required  by  Christ,  but  enjoined 
only  as  a  ceremony  thought  seemly  by  men  ;  and  third, 
that  the  brethren  shall  have  regard  to  his  conscience, 
and  not  bring  any  uncharitable  accusation  against  him, 
because  he  seeks  to  follow  what  Christ  has  commanded 
rather  than  what  men  have  required.  With  these 
concessions  granted,  he  declares  that  he  would  be 
satisfied;  and  that  there  may  be  no  breach  of  charity, 
he  recommends  his  former  flock,  should  these  conditions 
be  complied  with,  to  conform  to  the  requirements  of  the 
Prayer-Book  if  those  in  authority  should  insist  on  their 
so  doing.  We  have  been  the  more  particular  in 
bringing  out  this  fact  at  this  particular  time,  because 
of  its  bearing  on  his  conduct  in  connection  with  the 


40  JOHN  KNOX. 

issue  of  the  revised  Prayer-Book  in  1552,  of  which  we 
shall  have  to  speak  more  particularly  by-and-by. 

So  much  for  the  Reformer's  public  work  in  Berwick ; 
but  before  we  accompany  him  to  Newcastle,  we  must 
pause  to  mention  that  it  was  during  his  residence  at  this 
time  in  the  border  town  that  he  made  the  acquaintance 
of  and  was  engaged  to  the  lady  who  afterwards  became 
his  wife.  Her  name  was  Marjory  Bowes,  and  she  was 
the  daughter  of  Richard  Bowes,  youngest  son  of  Sir 
Ralph  Bowes,  of  Streatham.  Her  mother  was  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Sir  Robert  Aske,  of  Aske.  The  father, 
probably  on  account  of  Knox's  religious  opinions,  was 
opposed  to  the  marriage,  and  so  the  union  was  deferred 
for  some  years.  But  the  mother  was  friendly  to  the 
Reformer,  and  with  her  he  kept  up  a  constant  corre- 
spondence in  which  many  of  the  softer  traits  of 
his  character  come  beautifully  out.  Mrs.  Bowes  was 
subject  to  religious  melancholy,  and  the  tender 
manner  in  which  he  often  seeks  in  his  letters  to  bind 
up  her  bruised  spirit  shows  that,  when  occasion  needed, 
he  could  be  a  "  son  of  consolation  "  as  well  as  a  "  son 
of  thunder."  Sometimes  too,  as  when  his  heart  was 
stirred  with  solicitude  for  the  spiritual  interests  of  those 
among  whom  he  had  laboured,  or  when  he  was  re- 
quired to  confront  the  possible  issue  of  his  uncompro- 
mising adherence  to  what  he  believed  to  be  right,  he 
rises  to  a  strain  of  heroism  which  reminds  us  of  the 
greatest  of  the  apostles.  One  example  of  this  occurs 
in  his  letter  to  his  Berwick  friends,  and  we  may  fitly 


MINISTRY  IN  BERWICK-ON-TWEED.  41 

close  this  chapter  by  reproducing  it  here.  "  If  any 
man  be  offended  with  me  that  I,  willing  to  avoid  God's 
wrath  and  vengeance  threatened  against  such  as  having 
no  necessity  despise  His  ordinances,  do  purpose  and 
intend  to  obey  God,  embracing  such  as  He  has 
offered  unto  me  (rather)  than  to  please  and  flatter  man 
that  unjustly  held  the  same  from  me  ;  if  any,  I  say, 
for  this  cause  be  offended  and  will  seek  my  displeasure 
or  trouble,  let  the  same  understand,  that  as  I  have 
a  body,  which  only  they  may  hurt,  and  not  unless  God  so 
permit ;  so  have  they  bodies  and  souls  which  both  shall 
God  punish  in  fire  inextinguishably  with  the  devil  and 
his  angels,  unless  suddenly  they  repent  and  cease  to 
malign  against  God  and  His  holy  ordinance.  With  life 
and  death,  dear  brethren,  I  am  at  point, — they  before 
me  in  equal  balances.  Transitory  life  is  not  so  sweet 
to  me  that  for  defence  thereof  I  will  jeopard  to  lose 
the  life  everlasting.  Nor  yet  is  corporeal  death  to 
me  so  fearful  that  albeit  most  certainly  I  understood 
the  same  shortly  to  follow  my  godly  purpose,  I  would 
therefore  depone  myself  to  die  in  God's  wrath  and 
anger  for  ever  and  ever,  which  no  doubt  I  should 
do,  if  for  man's  pleasure  I  refused  God's  perfect 
ordinance."  l  There  is  no  mistaking  the  ring  of  such 
words  as  these  ;  and  he  who  wrote  them  takes  his  place 
in  the  honourable  company  of  the  heroes  of  conscience 
to  whom  the  world  no  less  than  the  Church  has  owed 
so  much. 

1  Lorimer,  p.  260. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Knox  and  the  English  Book  of  Common   Prayer, 
i55i-i553- 

FROM  Berwick  Knox  was  removed,  in  the  early 
summer  of  155 1,  to  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  where 
he  laboured,  with  occasional  absences,  for  nearly  two 
years.  Already,  in  the  spring  of  1550,  he  had  made 
a  public  discourse  of  great  importance  there,  and 
perhaps  the  impression  produced  by  his  words  then, 
may  have  led  to  his  being  ultimately  transferred  thither. 
There  is  extant  among  his  writings  "  A  Vindication  of 
the  Doctrine  that  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  is  Idolatry," 
to  which  this  note  is  prefixed:  "  The  fourth  of  April,  in 
the  year  1550,  was  appointed  to  John  Knox,  preacher 
of  the  Holy  Evangel  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  give  his  con- 
fession why  he  affirmed  the  mass  idolatry ;  which  day, 
in  presence  of  the  Council,  and  congregation,  amongst 
whom  was  also  present  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  in  this 
manner  he  beginneth."  This  has  been  supposed  by 
some  to  indicate  that  he  was  under  accusation  of 
heresy,  and  had  been  called  to  Newcastle  to  make 
his   defence.     But   though   it   is   not  unlikely   that   his 


THE  ENGLISH  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PR  A  YER.    43 

• 
doctrine   had   been   objected   to   by   Tunstall,    yet  the 

Council  of  the  North  was  not  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal, 
and  there  is  nothing  in  the  whole  address  to  imply  that 
the  speaker  was  upon  his  trial.  The  truth  seems  rather 
to  have  been  that  the  members  of  the  Council  invited 
him  to  declare  and  enforce  his  opinions  concerning  the 
mass  before  an  audience  which  filled  the  great  church 
of  St.  Nicholas. 

The  argument  of  his  discourse  on  this  occasion  was 
an  amplification  of  the  following  syllogism  :  "  all  wor- 
shipping, honouring,  or  service,  invented  by  the  brain  of 
man,  in  the  religion  of  God,  without  His  express  com- 
mandment is  idolatry :  the  mass  is  invented  by  the 
brain  of  man  without  any  commandment  of  God  ;  there- 
fore, the  mass  is  idolatry."  The  ground  here  taken  was 
identical  with  that  which  he  had  defended  against 
Arbuckle,  and  is  distinctively  different  from  the  position 
which,  in  the  very  same  year,  was  taken  by  Cranmer  in 
his  "  Defence  of  the  true  Catholic  Doctrine  of  the 
Sacrament."  The  Anglican  primate  meant  by  idolatry 
the  substitution  of  a  false  God  for  the  true,  as  in  the 
adoration  of  the  host,  for  the  real  body,  blood,  soul  and 
divinity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  But  by  the  same 
term,  as  his  major  premise  makes  abundantly  evident, 
Knox  designated  that  which  we  should  call  now  con- 
structive idolatry,  namely,  "  the  invention  of  strange 
worshippings  of  God,  introduced  without  any  warrant 
from  His  word  ; "  or  what  the  Westminster  divines 
meant,  when  in  their  Shorter  Catechism  in  answer  to  the 


44  JOHN  KNOX. 

question,  "  What  is  forbidden  in  the  second  command- 
ment?" they  reply,  "The  worshipping  of  God  by 
images,  or  any  other  way  not  appointed  in  His  word." 
With  Cranmer  the  word  meant  the  worshipping  as  God 
of  that  which  is  no  God ;  with  Knox  it  denoted  the 
worshipping  of  God  in  a  manner  invented  by  men  and 
unauthorized  by  God.  Cranmer  was  the  father  of  the 
Anglican  churchmen ;  Knox  was  the  earliest,  and  by  no 
means  the  least  noteworthy,  of  the  Puritans,  for  the 
principle  which  he  advocated  was  one  which  he  was  as 
ready  to  apply  to  ceremonies  in  the  reformed  churches 
as  to  the  idolatries  of  the  Romish  worship.  The  utter- 
ance of  these  sentiments  by  him  at  this  time  marks  the 
beginning  of  that  movement  which  has  continued  even 
until  ow,  and  which  in  its  progress,  among  other  less 
consp  .nous  results,  called  into  existence  the  various 
nonconforming  churches  of  England  ;  inspired  the  cove- 
nanters of  Scotland  to  begin  and  carry  through  their  long 
and  painful  struggle  with  the  second  Charles  ;  widened 
the  civil  liberties  of  Great  Britain  ;  and  planted  the  seed 
from  which  the  American  Republic  has  grown  into 
stateliness  and  strength. 

Its  more  immediate  personal  effect,  as  we  have  con- 
jectured, was  the  transference  of  Knox  from  Berwick  to 
Newcastle,  where  he  continued  to  administer  word  and 
sacraments  in  the  same  manner  as  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  follow.  On  the  banks  of  the  Tyne  he  was 
as  faithful  and  fearless  in  his  pulpit  utterances,  and  as 
simple  in  his  ritual  observances,  as  he  had  been  on  the 


THE  ENGLISH  BOOK   OF  COMMON  PR  A  YER.   45 

banks  of  the  Tweed.  "  God  is  witness,"  said  he  in  a 
letter  to  his  Newcastle  friends,  written  by  him  from  the 
continent  in  1558;  "and  I  refuse  not  your  own  judg- 
ments, how  simply  and  uprightly  I  conversed  and  walked 
among  you,  that  neither  for  fear  did  I  spare  to  speak  the 
simple  truth  unto  you;  neither  for  hope  of  worldly 
promotion,  dignity,  or  honour,  did  I  wittingly  adulterate 
any  part  of  God's  Scriptures,  whether  it  were  in 
exposition,  in  preaching,  contention,  or  writing ;  but 
that  simply  and  plainly,  as  it  pleased  the  merciful  good- 
ness of  my  God  to  give  unto  me  the  utterance,  under- 
standing, and  spirit,  I  did  distribute  the  bread  of  life,  as 
of  Christ  Jesus  I  had  received  it;"1  and  again,  "How 
oft  have  ye  assisted  to  baptism  ?  How  oft  have  ye  been 
partakers  of  the  Lord's  Table  prepared,  and  use  and 
ministered,  in  all  simplicity,  not  as  a  man  had  devised, 
neither  as  the  king's  proceedings  did  allow,  but  as  Christ 
Jesus  did  institute,  and  as  it  is  evident  that  Saint  Paul 
did  practise  ?  "  3  How  it  came  that  he  was  permitted 
to  administer  the  sacrament  in  that  manner  does  not 
appear;  but  the  fact  that  he  did  so  is  incontrovertible, 
and  that  he  did  not  stand  quite  alone  in  taking  such  a 
course  is  evident  from  these  words  in  Becon's  "  Display- 
ing of  the  Mass,"  written  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary  : 
"  How  oft  have  I  seen  here,  in  England,  people  sitting 
at  the  Lord's  Table  ! "  It  is  well  known  also  that  the 
opinions  of  Hooper,  on  this  subject,  were  in  full  accord 
with  those  of  Knox  ;  and  though  we  have  not  been  able 
1  Lorimer,  p.  73.        2  Ibid.,  p.  74. 


46  JOHN  KNOX. 

to  find  any  distinct  statement  that  he  had  actually 
reduced  them  to  practice,  yet  it  is  all  but  certain  that  he 
did  so. 

But  in  any  case  his  nonconformity  in  the  matter  of 
kneeling  did  not  keep  Knox  from  attaining  a  prominent 
place  among  the  leaders  of  his  time,  for  in  December, 
1551,  six  months  after  he  had  been  stationed  at  New- 
castle, he  was  appointed  one  of  King  Edward  the  Sixth's 
chaplains,  who  were  six  in  number,  and  all  of  whom 
were  selected  because  they  were  "  accounted  the  most 
zealous  and  ready  preachers  of  that  time."  This  pre- 
ferment was  a  recognition  of  the  ability  which  Knox 
had  shown.  It  added  much  to  his  consideration  and 
weight  in  the  social  scale,  while  it  gave  him  an 
opportunity  of  making  his  influence  felt  in  ecclesiastical 
affairs  in  a  manner  which  has  left  its  mark  on  the 
English  Prayer-Book  even  until  the  present  day.  To 
understand  how  this  came  about,  it  is  needful  to  bear 
in  mind  that  the  Second  or  Revised  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  was  completed  at  the  press  in  August,  1552,  and 
had  been  appointed  by  the  Parliament  of  that  year  to 
come  into  use  in  the  churches  on  the  first  day  of 
November.  Into  that  book  had  been  reintroduced 
from  the  "order  of  communion,"  published  in   1548,1 

1  Dr.  Lorimer  has  said  (p.  31)  that  "in  both  the  formularies 
recently  set  forth,"  the  Order  of  Communion  in  1548  and  the 
"Book  of  Common  Prayer"  in  1549,  the  practice  of  kneeling  in 
the  Lord's  Supper  had  been  retained  ;  and  on  a  subsequent  page 
(112)  that  "in  the  Second  Prayer-Book  of  King  Edward  VI.  a 
rubric  had  for  the  first  time  been  inserted  appointing  the  Lord's 


THE  ENGLISH  BOOK   OF  COMMON  PRAYER.   47 

the  injunction  that  the  people  should  receive  the  bread 
and  wine  "  kneeling."  That  had,  indeed,  been  the 
accustomed  posture  before,  but  no  instruction  for  its 
observance  had  been  contained  in  the  First  Prayer-Book 
published  in  1549.  There  the  directions  are  thus  given  : 
11  Then  shall  the  priest  first  receive  the  communion  in 
both  kinds  himself,  and  next  deliver  it  to  other  ministers, 
if  any  be  there  present  (that  they  may  be  ready  to  help 
the  chief  minister),  and  after  to  the  people."  But  in 
the  two  years  immediately  following  the  publication  of 
that  First  Prayer-Book,  discussion  on  the  posture  at 
the  Lord's  Table  had  been  brought  up,  and  as  Cranmer, 
Ridley,  and  the  most  of  the  other  Reforming  Bishops 
were  opposed  to  the  views  and  practices  of  Knox, 
Hooper,  and  others,  they  deemed  it  advisable  to  fore- 
close debate  and  put  an  end  to  diversity  of  order  by  an 
authoritative  injunction.  For  this  purpose,  in  the 
Prayer-Book  in  1552  the  rubric  was  made  to  read  thus : 
"Then  shall  the  minister  first  receive  the  communion 
in  both  kinds  himself,  and  next  deliver  it  to  the  other 

Supper  to  be  administered  to  the  communicants  in  a  kneeling 
posture."  But  these  statements  are  not  made  with  that  author's 
usual  accuracy.  For  the  "Order  of  Communion"  reads  thus: 
"Then  shall  the  priest  rise,  the  people  still  reverently  kneeling, 
and  the  priest  shall  deliver  the  communion,  first  to  the  ministers, 
if  any  be  there  present,  that  they  may  help  the  chief  minister,  and 
after  to  the  others."  But  in  the  "  Book  "  of  1549,  the  rubric  is  as 
we  give  it  in  the  text.  What  the  motive  was  for  the  omission  of 
kneeling  in  the  Book  of  1 549  it  is  not  easy  to  say,  but  the  fact  of  its 
omission  is  undoubted.  (See  "  The  Two  Liturgies,"  by  Rev.  Joseph 
Kclley,  p.  92.) 


48  JOHN  KNOX. 

ministers,  if  any  be  there  present  (that  they  may  help 
the  chief  minister),   and  after   to  the  people,   in  their 
hands,  kneeling."     Thus  it  came  about  that  what  had 
been  left  undefined  in  the  former  book  was  expressly 
limited  in  the  new  one;  and,  therefore,  though  in  other 
respects  the  latter  was  much  more  in  harmony  with  the 
sentiments  of  Knox,  it  was  in  this  less  tolerant  than  the 
former.    When,  therefore,  Knox  was  appointed  to  preach 
before   the    king  in  the    autumn    of  that    year,   having 
probably  seen  one  of  the  first-issued  copies  of  the  book, 
he  took  occasion  to  enter  fully  into  the  discussion  of  the 
mode  of  administering  the  communion,  and  his  discourse 
was  not  without   immediate    effect,    for   in   a   letter   of 
John  Utenhovius  to  Henry  Bullinger,  dated  October  12, 
1552,    the    writer   says:1    "Some  disputes  have  arisen 
among    the    bishops,   within  these  few  days,  in   conse- 
quence of  a   sermon  by  a  pious  preacher,  chaplain   to 
the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  preached  by  him,  before 
the  king  and  Council,  in  which  he  inveighed  with  great 
freedom  against  kneeling  at  the  Lord's  Supper,   which 
is  still  retained  here  in  England.     This  good  man,  how- 
ever, a  Scotsman  by  nation,  has  so  wrought  upon  the 
minds  of  many  that  we   may  hope  some  good  to  the 
church  will   at  length  arise  from  it,  which   I   earnestly 
implore   the  Lord  to   grant."     Now   there    can   be    no 
doubt   that  the  preacher  here    referred   to   was    Knox, 
who  as  having  been  in  contact  with  Northumberland  as 
Warden-General  of  the  border  counties,  might  easily  be 
1  Lorimer,  p.  98. 


THE  ENGLISH  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PR  A  YER.    49 

mistaken  by  a  foreigner  for  the  chaplain  of  that  noble- 
man. Other  facts  to  be  taken  in  connection  with  the 
information  furnished  by  Utenhovius  are  the  following  : 1 
In  the  Record  of  the  Privy  Council,  under  date  26th 
September,  1552,  there  is  an  order  to  Grafton,  the 
printer,  forbidding  him  to  issue  any  copies  of  the  new 
Prayer-Book;  and  commanding  that  if  any  had  been 
already  distributed  to  his  fellow-publishers  they  should 
"  not  be  put  abroad  until  certain  faults  therein  had  been 
corrected."  Clearly  therefore,  as  copies  of  the  book  had 
been  sold,  it  was  possible  for  Knox  to  have  obtained 
one,  and  as  Lorimer  says,  "  none  would  be  more  eager 
purchasers  than  those  ministers  of  the  Church  who  were 
most  zealous  for  reform."  Meetings  of  the  Council 
were  held  on  October  4th  and  6th,  at  one  or  other  of 
which  objections  to  the  rubric  seem  to  have  been  made, 
probably  as  the  result  of  Knox's  sermon,  and  to  have 
been  referred  to  Cranmer  for  his  review.  On  October 
7th,  Cranmer  wrote  to  the  Council  in  vindication  of  the 
rubric  on  kneeling,  a  letter  which  purports  to  be  a  reply 
to  certain  objections  against  it  which  had  been  forwarded 
to  him  by  its  members.  On  the  agenda  paper  of  the 
business  to  be  transacted  at  the  meeting  of  the  Council 
on  the  20th  of  October,  and  which  still  exists  in  the 
handwriting  of  Cecil,  there  is  a  line  to  this  effect  : 
"  Mr.  Knocks— b  of  Catrb— ye  book  in  ye  B  of  Durhra," 
and  at  that  very  meeting,  as  we  learn  from  the  Record, 
"a  letter  was  directed  to  Messrs.  Harley,  Bill}<  Horn, 
1  Lorimer,  p.  109. 


50  JOHN  KNOX. 

Grindal,  Pern,  and  Knox,  to  consider  certain  articles 
exhibited  to  the  King's  Majesty,  to  be  subscribed  by  all 
such  as  shall  be  admitted  to  be  preachers  or  ministers 
in  any  part  of  the  realm,  and  to  make  report  of  their 
opinions  touching  the  same."  These  articles,  therefore, 
must  have  come  at  this  time  into  Knox's  hands,  and, 
though  many  of  them  must  have  received  his  cordial 
endorsement,  there  was  one  of  them  which  he  could  not 
have  approved;  that,  namely,  which  contained  this 
clause  :  "  and  as  to  the  character  of  the  ceremonies, 
they  are  repugnant  in  nothing  to  the  wholesome  liberty 
of  the  gospel,  if  they  are  judged  from  their  own  nature, 
but  very  well  agree  with  it,  and  in  very  many  respects 
further  the  same  in  a  high  degree."  How  could  Knox, 
after  his  recent  sermon  on  kneeling  in  the  Lord's  Supper, 
give  his  sanction  to  that  article  ?  Manifestly  he  would 
feel  that  he  must  protest  against  such  an  assertion  as 
it  contained ;  and  then,  as  Lorimer  says,  "  the  thought 
would  seem  to  have  flashed  upon  him  that  he  had  now 
another  and  quite  an  unexpected  opportunity  of  making 
a  fresh  appeal  to  the  king  and  Council  on  that  very 
question  of  the  rubric  on  kneeling,  which  was  still 
apparently  in  dependence.  There  was  still  time  to  make 
one  more  attempt.  In  addition  to  his  judgment  upon 
the  articles  at  large,  which  need  not  go  to  the  Council 
so  quickly,  what  if  he  should  single  out  this  38th  Article 
and  make  it  the  subject  of  a  separate  representation, 
and  distinguishing  between  the  ceremony  of  kneeling 
and  all  the  rest;  what  if  he  should  confine  the  bulk 


THE  ENGLISH  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PRAYER.    51 

of  his  representations  to  this  single  point,  which  was 
now  the  only  one  in  which  it  was  feasible  to  look  for 
any  immediate  alteration  ? ;'  That  at  least  was  done 
by  the  memorial,  which  by  its  authors  is  called  their 
confession  in  regard  to  the  38th  Article,  and  which 
Lorimer  has  printed  for  the  first  time  in  his  appendix. 
No  names  are  subscribed  to  the  document,  but  the  first 
portion  of  it  bears  strong  internal  evidence  of  having 
been  the  production  of  Knox ;  and  though  in  other 
parts  there  are  traces,  as  the  painstaking  editor  thinks, 
of  the  hands  of  Thomas  Becon  and  Roger  Hutchinson, 
we  agree  with  him  in  believing  that  every  one  who 
examines  the  whole  statement  with  care  will  conclude 
"that  whatever  Englishman  may  have  joined  him  in  the 
memorial,  and  whatever  they  may  have  contributed  to 
its  substance  of  thought,  it  was  Knox  himself  who  held 
the  pen."  This  memorial  could  have  been  of  no  use 
after  the  final  action  of  the  Council  on  the  matter  of 
"kneeling;"  and  it  was  evidently  called  forth  by  the 
reference  of  the  articles  to  the  royal  chaplains,  there- 
fore it  must  have  been  prepared  between  the  20th 
and  27th  October,  and  must  have  been  presented  to 
the  meeting  of  the  Council  on  the  latter  of  these 
two  dates,  on  which  also,  and  we  may  conclude  as 
the  result  of  the  arguments  contained  in  the  memorial, 
the  "  Declaration  on  Kneeling,"  which  has  all  the  marks 
of  the  style  of  Cranmer,  and  which  therefore  had 
probably  been  sent  by  him  to  the  Council  as  a 
suggested  compromise,  was  adopted,  and  ordered  to  be 


52  JOHN  KNOX. 

inserted  in  the  forthcoming  book.  This  accounts  for 
the  circumstance  mentioned  by  the  editor  of  "  The  Two 
Liturgies  "  in  a  note,  that  the  paragraph  in  question  "  is 
printed  on  a  separate  leaf  in  some  copies,  and  as  is 
evident  from  the  signatures,  was  added  afterwards."  In 
one  copy,  "the  leaf  is  pasted  in  after  the  copy  was 
bound,  and  several  copies  are  without  it."  Now  putting 
all  these  things  together,  the  conclusion  is  not  only 
legitimate  but  inevitable,  that  the  insertion  of  the 
declaration  on  kneeling  in  the  Prayer-Book  was  due 
to  the  agency  of  Knox,  more  probably  than  to  that 
of  any  other  man.  As  Lorimer  writes  (p.  121),  "The 
compromise  prevailed,  but  apparently  there  would  not 
have  been  so  much  as  a  compromise  obtained  if  the 
1  confession  '  had  not  been  thrown  into  the  scale  at  the 
very  last  moment.  .  .  .  His  last  blow  had  the  effect 
of  overcoming  the  resistance  to  all  further  change  which 
a  majority  of  the  Council  had  hitherto  maintained." 
Hence,  though  we  may  not  approve  of  the  spirit  in 
which  Weston  uttered  the  words,  ok  accept  either  his 
description  of  Knox  or  his  designation  of  the  doctrine 
on  which  he  insisted,  yet  he  was  correct  as  to  the  matter 
of  fact  when  he  said,  "a  renegade  Scot  did  take  away 
the  adoration  and  worshipping  of  Christ  in  the  sacra- 
ment, by  whose  procurement  that  heresy  was  put  into 
the  last  communion  book ;  so  much  prevailed  that  one 
man's  authority  at  that  time." 

The  Declaration  itself  was  in  the  following  words  : — 
"  Although  no  order  can  be  so  perfectly  devised,  but  it 


THE  ENGLISH  BOOK    OF  COMMON  PR  A  YER.    53 

may  be  of  some,  either  for  their  ignorance  and  infirmity, 
or  else  of  malice  and  obstinacy,  misconstrued,  depraved, 
and  interpreted  in  a  wrong  part :  And  yet,  because 
brotherly  charity  willeth,  that  so  much  as  conveniently 
may  be,  offences  should  be  taken  away ;  therefore  we 
willing  to  do  the  same  :  Whereas  it  is  ordained  in  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  in  the  administration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  that  the  communicants  kneeling  should 
receive  the  Holy  Communion :  which  thing  being  well 
meant,  for  a  signification  of  the  humble  and  grateful 
acknowledging  of  the  benefits  of  Christ,  given  unto  the 
worthy  receiver,  and  to  avoid  the  profanation  and  dis- 
order, which  about  the  Holy  Communion  might  else 
ensue  :  lest  yet  the  same  kneeling  might  be  thought  or 
taken  otherwise,  Ave  do  declare  that  it  is  not  meant  there- 
by, that  any  adoration  is  done,  or  ought  to  be  done, 
either  unto  the  sacramental  bread  and  wine  there  bodily 
received,  or  to  any  real  and  essential  presence  there 
being  of  Christ's  natural  flesh  and  blood.  For  as  con- 
cerning the  sacramental  bread  and  wine,  they  remain 
still  in  their  very  natural  substances,  and  therefore  may 
not  be  adored,  for  that  were  Idolatry  to  be  abhorred  of 
all  faithful  Christians.  And  as  concerning  the  natural 
body  and  blood  of  our  Saviour  Christ  they  are  in  heaven 
and  not  here.  For  it  is  against  the  truth  of  Christ's  true 
natural  body,  to  be  in  more  places  than  in  one  at  one 
time."  Opinions  will  of  course  differ  as  to  whether  in 
this  matter  the  influence  of  Knox  was  beneficial  or  the 
reverse.     We  are  writing  biography,  not  a  treatise    on 


54  JOHN  KNOX. 

theology,  and  what  we  have  been  seeking  to  show  is  the 
share  that  Knox  had  in  the  English  Reformation. 
Sacramentarians  generally  will  agree  in  styling  the 
Declaration  which  we  have  quoted  "  the  black  rubric," 
but  for  ourselves  we  have  no  hesitation  in  avowing  our 
agreement  with  Lorimer  that  "there  is  nothing  in  the 
whole  English  Liturgy  which  is,  to  say  the  least,  more 
Protestant;"  and  it  may  be  well,  to  give  completeness  to 
our  reference  to  the  subject,  that  we  should  add  that 
author's  very  condensed  summary  of  the  subsequent 
history  of  this  famous  rubric.  "  At  the  accession  of 
Elizabeth  it  was  dropped  out  of  the  Prayer-Book,  along 
with  that  portion  of  the  35th  Article  upon  which  it 
rested ;  and  it  remained  outside  the  Liturgy  for  a 
hundred  years.  And  why?  Simply  because  its 
omission  was  judged  as  important  by  the  Church'? 
leaders  then  as  its  insertion  had  been  at  first. 
Elizabeth's  church  policy  was  a  comprehensive  policy, 
and  neither  James  I.  nor  Charles  I.  had  any  wish  to 
depart  from  it.  She  wished,  and  so  did  her  council  and 
first  Parliament,  to  make  it  as  easy  as  possible  for  the 
Roman  party  to  continue  in  the  National  Church,  but 
she  and  they  knew  that  such  a  comprehension  was 
impossible  as  long  as  the  "  Declaration  on  Kneeling  " 
remained  in  the  Prayer-Book.  Its  insertion  had  taken 
place  in  order  to  "  comprehend  "  the  Puritan  party,  to 
the  exclusion  of  the  Romanists ;  and  now  its  omission 
took  place  in  order  to  comprehend  the  Romanists,  at  the 
risk  of  driving  out  the  Puritans.     But  why  do  we  now 


THE  ENGLISH  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PRAYER.    55 

find  the  "  Declaration  "  restored  to  its  old  place  ?  What 
was  the  motive  of  so  remarkable  a  rehabilitation  in 
1662?  It  is  easy  to  discern  it.  The  circle  of  church 
evolution  and  change  had  then  returned  into  itself.  In 
1662  the  old  policy  of  conciliating  and  comprehending 
the  Puritans  instead  of  the  Catholics  was  again  in 
season — was  again  the  key  of  the  situation.  To  this 
policy  the  "  Declaration  on  Kneeling  "  was  again  indis- 
pensable, and  again;  therefore,  this  most  remarkable 
rubric  was  restored,  in  substantially  the  same  form,  to  its 
vacant  place.  Nor  has  its  history  yet  exhausted  itself. 
It  has  retained  its  recovered  place  through  all  the 
changes  of  the  last  two  centuries  only  to  come  forward 
into  new  significance  and  importance  in  our  own  day. 
The  last  chapter  of  its  history  was  written  only  the  other 
day  in  the  long  discussion  and  the  fateful  decision  of  the 
Bennett  case.  Its  simple  but  trenchant  language  was 
often  quoted  in  the  pleadings,  and  passed  into  the  body 
of  the  judgment  itself:  "As  concerning  the  natural 
body  and  blood  of  our  Saviour  Christ  they  are  in  heaven, 
not  here  :  for  it  is  against  the  truth  of  Christ's  true 
natural  body  to  be  in  more  places  than  in  one  at  one 
time." 

But  the  memorial  to  the  Privy  Council,  which  we  have 
traced  to  Knox,  prevailed  also  so  far  as  to  secure  a 
modification  of  the  article  on  ceremonies,  which, 
originally  numbered  as  the  3Sth,  came  out  owing  to 
some  minor  condensations  as  the  35th,  and  took  this 
ultimate    shape — (we    give   Lorimer's   translation  from 


$6  JOHN  KNOX. 

the  Latin) — "The  book  which  of  very  late  time  was 
given  to  the  Church  of  England  by  the  king's  authority 
and  the  Parliament,  containing  the  manner  and  form  of 
praying  and  ministering  the  sacraments  in  the  Church 
of  England,  likewise  also  the  book  of  ordering  ministers 
of  the  Church  set  forth  by  the  foresaid  authority,  are 
godly,  and  in  no  point  repugnant  to  the  wholesome 
doctrine  of  the  gospel,  but  agreeable  thereunto,  further- 
ing and  beautifying  the  same  not  a  little ;  and  therefore 
of  all  faithful  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  and 
chiefly  of  the  ministers  of  the  Lord,  they  ought  to  be 
received  and  allowed  with  all  readiness  of  mind  and 
thanksgiving,  and  to  be  commended  to  the  people 
of  God." 1  When  this  is  compared  with  the  clause 
formerly  given  it  will  be  seen  that  what  before  was  said 
of  the  "  ceremonies "  is  here  restricted  to  the 
"doctrine,"  and  that  everything  to  which  the  memorial 
had  taken  exception  is  omitted. 

But  though  the  insertion  of  the  Declaration  on  Kneel- 
ing into  the  Prayer-Book  satisfied  one  of  the  conditions 
which,  in  his  letter  to  his  Berwick  friends,  Knox  had 
laid  down  as  essential  to  his  conforming  to  "common 
Order  "  :  it  did  not  meet  the  others,  and  so  he  steadily 
refused  to  accept  a  formal  charge  in  the  Church  of 
England.      At    the    very   time   when  the    Council   was 

1  For  the  full  discussion  of  this  subject  we  refer  to  Dr.  Lorimer's 
monograph,  "John  Knox  and  the  Church  of  England,"  a  most 
valuable  and  original  contribution  to  English  Ecclesiastical  history, 
though  the  absence  of  an  index  makes  it  less  serviceable  to  the 
student  than  such  a  work  should  be. 


THE  ENGLISH  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PRA  YER.    57 

engaged  in  the  discussions  which  we  have  just  mentioned, 
the  Duke  of  Northumberland  wrote  from  Chelsea,  under 
date  October  27th,  1552^  to  Secretary  Cecil,  in  these 
words : l  "  I  would  to  God  it  might  please  the  King's 
majesty  to  appoint  Mr.  Knox  to  the  office  of  Rochester 
bishopric,  which  for  three  reasons  would  be  very  well. 
First :  he  would  not  only  be  a  whetstone  to  quicken 
and  sharp  the  Bishop  of  Canterbury,  whereof  lie  hath 
need,  but  also  would  be  a  great  confounder  of  the 
Anabaptists  lately  sprung  up  in  Kent.  Secondly,  he 
should  not  continue  the  ministration  in  the  north,  con- 
trary to  this  set  forth  here  "  (meaning  to  the  usual  form 
prescribed  at  this  time).  "  Thirdly,  the  family  of  the 
Scots  now  inhabiting  in  Newcastle,  chiefly  for  his  fellow- 
ship, would  not  continue  there,  wherein  many  resort  to 
them  out  of  Scotland,  which  is  not  requisite."  These 
are  certainly  rather  strange  reasons  why  Knox  should  be 
promoted  to  a  bishopric,  but  they  prove  not  only  that 
he  had  acted  an  independent  part  in  Newcastle,  but  also 
that  his  fame  had  gone  so  widely  over  Scotland  that 
multitudes  of  his  fellow-countrymen  were  attracted  to 
that  place  for  the  sake  of  enjoying  his  ministrations. 
But  he  would  not  be  made  a  bishop,  and  he  must  have 
expressed  his  refusal  with  all  his  wonted  plainness  of 
speech,  for  a  few  weeks  later,  on  the  7th  December, 
Northumberland  writes  to  the  same  correspondent : 
"  Master  Knox's  being  here  to  speak  with  me,  saying 
he  was  so  willed  by  you  ;  I  do  return  him  again, 
1  Lorimer,  pp.  149-150. 


58  JOHN  KNOX. 

because  I  love  not  to  have  to  do  with  men  which  be 
neither  grateful  nor  pleasable. ' l  So  his  grace  is  minded 
to  put  the  case ;  but  with  his  former  letter  in  our  hands 
we  can  see  that  gratitude  in  his  vocabulary  meant  falling 
in  with  his  individual  plans,  and  li  pleasableness  "  was 
with  him  a  synonym  for  "  squeezeableness." 

In  the  following  February  (1553)  Knox  was  offered 
the  Vicarage  of  All  Hallows  in  Bread  Street  (London); 
but  that  also  he  declined,  and  we  have  from  the  pen  of 
Calderwood  an  account  of  what  occurred  in  connection 
with  that.2  "In  a  letter,  dated  the  14th  of  April,  1553, 
and  written  with  his  own  hand)  I  find,"  says  that  author, 
"  that  he  was  called  before  the  Council  of  England  for 
kneeling,  who  demanded  of  him  three  questions.  First, 
why  he  refused  the  benefice  provided  for  him  ?  secondly, 
whether  he  thought  that  no  Christian  might  serve  in  the 
ecclesiastical  ministration  according  to  the  rites  and  laws 
of  the  realm  of  England?  thirdly,  if  kneeling  at  the 
Lord's  Table  was  not  indifferent  ?  To  the  first  he 
answered,  that  his  conscience  did  witness  that  he  might 
profit  more  in  some  other  place  than  in  London ;  and 
therefore  had  no  pleasure  to  accept  any  office  in  the 
same.  Howbeit,  he  might  have  answered  otherwise,  that 
he  refused  that  parsonage  because  of  my  Lord  of  North- 
umberland's command.  To  the  second,  that  many 
things  were  worthy  of  reformation  in  the  ministry  of 
England,  without  the  reformation  whereof  no  minister 

1  Lorimer,  p.  151. 

8  See  Laing  :  "  Knox's  Works,"  vol.  iii.  pp.  86-7. 


THE  ENGLISH  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PR  A  YER.     59 

did  discharge,  or  could  discbarge,  his  conscience  before 
God  ;  for  no  minister  in  England  bad  authority  to  divide 
and  separate  the  lepers  from  the  whole,  which  was  a 
chief  point  of  his  office ;  yet  did  he  not  refuse  such 
oflice  as  might  appear  to  promote  God's  glory  in  utter- 
ance of  Christ's  gospel  in  a  mean  degree,  where  more  he 
might  edify  by  preaching  of  the  true  word  than  hinder 
by  sufferance  of  manifest  iniquity,  seeing  that  reforma- 
tion of  manners  did  not  appertain  to  all  ministers.  To 
the  third  he  answered,  that  Christ's  action  in  itself  was 
most  perfect,  and  Christ's  action  was  done  without 
kneeling ;  that  kneeling  was  man's  addition  or  imagina- 
tion ;  that  it  was  most  sure  to  follow  the  example  of 
Christ,  whose  action  was  done  sitting  and  not  kneeling. 
In  this  last  question  there  was  great  contention  betwixt 
the  whole  table  of  the  lords  and  him.  There  were 
present  there  the  Bishops  of  Canterbury  and  Ely,  my 
Lord  Treasurer;  the  Marquis  of  Northampton,  the  Earl 
of  Bedford,  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  Master  Comptroller, 
my  Lord  Chamberlain,  both  the  Secretaries,  and  other 
inferior  lords.  After  long  reasoning,  it  was  said  unto 
him  that  he  was  not  called  of  any  evil  mind ;  that  they 
were  sorry  to  know  him  of  a  contrary  mind  to  the  com- 
mon Order.  He  answered  that  he  was  more  sorry  that 
a  common  Order  should  be  contrary  to  Christ's  insti- 
tution. With  some  gentle  speeches  he  was  dismissed, 
and  willed  to  advise  with  himself  if  he  would  communi- 
cate after  that  Order."  But,  unlike  Hooper,  who,  after 
a  long  controversy  about  vestments  and  a  brief  imprison- 


1 


60  JOHN  KNOX. 

ment  for  his  refusal  to  wear  them,  accepted  the  bishopric 
of  Gloucester,  vestments  and  all,  only  however  to  suffer 
martyrdom  at  last  under  Queen  Mary,  Knox  remained 
steadfast  to  the  position  which  he  had  taken  up ;  and, 
refusing  a  permanent  charge,  which  would  have  required 
him  to  give  his  assent  and  consent  to  the  Articles,  and 
to  conform  to  the  common  Order,  he  was  sent  in  June, 
1553,  as  one  of  the  itinerary  preachers  into  Buckingham- 
shire, where  he  laboured  with  great  zeal  and  assiduity 
for  some  weeks. 

In  the  interval  between  October,  1552,  and  March, 
1553,  we  find  that  Knox  had  been  back  at  Newcastle, 
where  he  was  bitterly  opposed  by  Sir  Robert  Brandling, 
the  Mayor,  whose  zeal  was  checked,  however,  by  the 
agency  of  Lord  Wharton,  then  Lord  Warden  of  the 
North,  at  the  suggestion  of  Northumberland ;  and  there 
are  some  interesting  letters  belonging  to  this  portion  of 
his  life  which  give  us  delightful  glimpses  into  his  heart 
and  habits.  In  one  we  see  him  "  sitting  at  his  book," 
and  contemplating  Matthew's  Gospel  by  the  help  of 
"  some  most  godly  expositions,  and  among  the  rest 
Chrysostom."  In  another  he  writes,  "  This  day  ye  know 
to  be  the  day  of  my  study  and  prayer  to  God."  And  in 
a  third,  written  to  Mrs.  Bowes  from  London,  whither  he 
had  been  summoned  in  haste  before  the  Privy  Council, 
we  have  this  record  :  "  The  very  instant  hour  that  your 
letters  were  presented  unto  me  was  I  talking  of  you,  by 
reason  that  three  honest  poor  women  were  come  to  me, 
and  were  complaining  their  great   infirmity,  and  were 


THE  ENGLISH  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PRAYER.    61 

showing  unto  me  the  great  assaults  of  the  enemy,  and  I 
was  opening  the  causes  and  commodities  thereof,  where- 
by all  our  eyes  wept  at  once  \  and  I  was  praying  unto 
God  that  you  and  some  others  had  been  there  with  me 
for  the  space  of  two  hours,  and  even  at  that  instant  came 
your  letters  to  my  hands,  whereof  the  part  I  read  unto 
them ;  and  one  of  them  said,  '  Oh  would  to  God  I  might 
speak  with  that  person,  for  I  perceive  there  be  more 
tempted  than  I.'"  Thus  amid  the  multiplicity  and 
weight  of  his  public  labours  he  did  not  neglect  either  the 
study  or  the  closet ;  and  the  weeping  Knox,  seeking  to 
comfort  those  that  were  cast  down,  is  a  picture  that  must 
seem  strange  to  many  who  know  little  more  about  him 
than  that  his  fortitude  made  Mary  Stuart  shed  tears  of 
wounded  pride  and  disappointed  ambition. 

In  April  he  preached  in  the  Chapel  Royal  before  the 
young  king,  and  inveighed  in  the  strongest  terms  against 
Northumberland  and  Paulet,  finishing  one  of  his  scath- 
ing passages  in  this  way:  "Was  David  and  Hezekiah, 
princes  of  great  and  godly  gifts  and  experience,  abused 
by  crafty  counsellors  and  dissembling  hypocrites  ?  What 
wonder  is  it,  then,  that  a  young  and  innocent  king 
be  deceived  by  crafty,  covetous,  wicked,  and  ungodly 
counsellors?  I  am  greatly  afraid  that  Ahithophel  be 
councillor,  that  Judas  bear  the  purse,  and  that  Shebna 
be  scribe,  comptroller  and  treasurer."  The  pulpit  in 
those  days  had  to  discharge  the  duties  of  public  criti- 
cism on  politics  and  morals,  which  are  now  much  more 
appropriately  performed  by  the  press ;  and  so,  as  Froude 


62  JOHN  KNOX. 

remarks,  "  since  discipline  could  not  be  restored,  Knox, 
and  those  who  felt  with  him  the  enormities  of  the  times, 
established,  by  their  own  authority,  this  second  form  of 
excommunication."  It  was  then  perhaps  a  necessity, 
but  it  is  always,  more  or  less,  a  dangerous  thing  for  a 
minister  to  do  ;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  Knox  was 
not  always  just  in  such  philippics.  But  he  was  always 
conscientious,  and  he  was  always  brave  ;  and  he  well 
knew  at  the  moment  the  risk  which  he  was  running.  In 
the  present  case,  if  little  good  came  out  of  it  to  the 
country,  no  harm  resulted  from  it  to  himself;  for,  as  we 
have  seen,  he  was  shortly  afterwards  engaged  to  preach 
in  Buckinghamshire.  And  there  he  laboured  on,  like 
another  Jeremiah,  forecasting  evils  which  none  of  his 
hearers  would  believe  could  happen,  until  at  the  death 
of  Edward  the  Sixth,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1553,  they  were 
rudely  awakened  from  their  sleep  of  security. 

Such  was  Knox's  share  in  the  working  out  of  the 
English  Reformation ;  and  we  have  dwelt  thus  long 
upon  it  because  the  facts  which  we  have  stated  have 
only  recently  been  brought  to  light ;  and  because  we 
wished  to  set  forth  with  as  much  clearness  as  condensa- 
tion would  allow  the  opinions  which  were  held,  and  the 
mode  of  worship  which  was  observed,  by  him,  even  at 
this  early  stage  in  his  history.  If  Knox  did  something 
for  England,  England  did  much  also  for  him.  If  he  was 
instrumental  in  keeping  the  Church  of  that  country  from 
greater  affinity  with  Romanism  than  it  might  otherwise 
have  shown,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  evil  effects 


THE  ENGLISH  BOOK   OF  COMMON  PRAYER.    63 

of  compromise  as  witnessed  by  him  there  helped  to 
make  him  more  thorough  in  his  later  work  in  Scotland  ; 
while  it  is  also  most  true  that  during  his  residence  there 
his  contact  with  the  Christian  people  whom  he  met  did 
something  to  soften  and  sweeten  his  piety,  and  to  make 
it  more  inward  and  sympathising.  Most  of  all,  God  was 
preparing  him  by  it  for  the  great  work  which  he  was 
afterwards  to  perform  in  his  native  land  ;  and  his  years 
of  service  in  England  were  blessed  in  securing  for  him 
the  friendship  and  confidence  of  her  ablest  statesmen, 
without  whose  assistance,  humanly  speaking,  Scotland 
might  have  been  lost  to  Protestantism  in  the  very  crisis 
of  her  history. 


CHAPTER  V. 
Last  Days  in  England,  1553. 

DURING  the  last  illness  of  the  young  King  Edward, 
Knox,  as  we  have  seen,  received  a  commission  to 
go  upon  a  preaching  tour  in  the  county  of  Buckingham, 
where,  like  an  old  Hebrew  prophet,  he  warned  his 
hearers  of  the  coming  crisis.  He  was  back  in  London, 
however,  as  we  learn  from  the  date  of  the  first  of  his 
published  letters,  on  the  23rd  of  June  (1553);  but  be- 
fore the  death  of  his  majesty,  which  happened  on  the 
6th  of  July,  he  had  returned  to  Buckinghamshire,  and 
there,  at  Amersham,  on  the  16th  of  that  month,  he 
preached  a  sermon  suited  to  the  times  in  the  very  thick 
of  the  turmoil  caused  by  the  dispute  as  to  the  succes- 
sion to  the  crown.  The  Duke  of  Northumberland  had 
presumed  to  set  the  Lady  Jane  Dudley  on  the  throne, 
but  Mary  Tudor's  adherents  could  not  brook  such  dis- 
loyalty to  their  mistress,  and  had  already  entered  on 
that  struggle  which  ended  in  the  collapse  of  the  reign  of 
"  the  twelfth-day  Queen."  The  county  of  Bucks,  as 
Froude  tells  us,  "both  Catholic  and  Protestant,"  was 
"  arming  to  the  teeth."     Sir  Edward  Hastings  had  called 


LAST  DAYS  IN  ENGLAND.  65 

out  its  musters,  in  Mary's  name,  and  had  been  joined 
fcy  Peckham,  the  cofferer  of  the  royal  household,  who 
had  gone  off  with  the  treasure  under  his  charge,  so 
that  the  Reformer  was  speaking  "  at  the  peril  of  his 
life  among  the  troopers  of  Hastings."  Nevertheless, 
nothing  daunted,  he  thus  apostrophised  the  land:1  M  O 
England !  now  is  God's  wrath  kindled  against  thee. 
Now  hath  He  begun  to  punish  as  He  hath  threatened  a 
long  while  by  His  true  prophets  and  messengers.  He 
hath  taken  from  thee  the  crown  of  thy  glory,  and  hath 
left  thee  without  honour  as  a  body  without  a  head.  And 
this  appeareth  to  be  only  the  beginning  of  sorrows, 
which  appeareth  to  increase.  For  I  perceive  that  the 
heart,  the  tongue,  and  the  hand  of  one  Englishman  is 
bent  against  another,  and  division  to  be  in  the  whole 
realm,  which  is  an  assured  sign  of  desolation  to  come. 
O  England  !  England !  dost  thou  not  consider  that  thy 
commonwealth  is  like  a  ship  sailing  on  the  sea  ;  if  thy 
mariners  and  governors  shall  one  consume  another,  shalt 
thou  not  suffer  shipwreck  in  short  process  of  time?  O 
England  !  England  !  alas  these  plagues  are  poured  upon 
thee,  for  that  thou  wouldest  not  know  the  most  happy 
time  of  thy  gentle  visitation.  But  wilt  thou  yet  obey  the 
voice  of  thy  God  and  submit  thyself  to  His  holy  words  ? 
Truly  if  thou  wilt,  thou  shalt  find  mercy  in  His  sight,  and 
the  estate  of  thy  commonwealth  shall  be  preserved.  But 
if  thou  obstinately  wilt  return  into  Egypt,  that  is,  if  thou 
contract  marriage,  confederacy,  and  league  with  such 
1  "  Works,"  vol.  iii.  pp.  30S-9. 

F 


66  JOHN  KNOX. 

princes  as  do  maintain  and  advance  idolatry  (such  as 
the  Emperor,  which  is  no  less  enemy  unto  Christ  than 
ever  was  Nero)  ;  if  for  the  pleasure  and  friendship  (I 
say)  of  such  princes  thou  return  to  thine  old  abomina- 
tions, before  used  under  the  papistry,  then  assuredly,  O 
England,  thou  shalt  be  plagued  and  brought  to  desola- 
tion by  the  means  of  those  whose  favour  thou  seekest, 
and  by  whom  thou  art  procured  to  fall  from  Christ  and 
to  serve  Antichrist."  These  were  bold  words.  Some 
of  them,  indeed,  might  be  called  rash,  and,  as  we  shall 
see,  furnished  a  weapon  for  his  adversaries  at  a  future 
day ;  but  there  was  no  quailing  in  the  heart  of  him  who 
uttered  them,  and  the  sting  of  them  after  all  was  in 
their  truth. 

From  Amersham  he  went  up  to  London,  where  on  the 
19th  of  July  he  was  a  witness  of  the  great  outburst  of 
popular  enthusiasm  with  which  Mary  was  welcomed  to 
the  throne  ;  but  he  could  not  share  in  the  wild  delight 
of  the  multitude,  for  as  he  tells  us  himself,  "in  London, 
in  more  places  than  one,  when  fires  of  joy  and  riotous 
banqueting  were  at  the  proclamation  of  Mary,"  his 
tongue  was  vehement  in  declaring  his  forebodings  of  the 
storm  which  was  so  soon  to  break.  On  the  26th  of 
July  he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Bowes  from  Carlisle,  and  again 
on  the  25th  of  September  we  find  him  writing  to  her  on 
his  return  to  London  from  Kent,  where  he  seems  to 
have  been  labouring  for  some  weeks.  The  dates  indi- 
cate that  he  was  both  "in  labours  abundant"  and  "ill 
journeyings  often,"  and  show  that  he  had  little  reason  to 


LAST  DA  YS  IN  ENGLAND.  67 

upbraid  himself,  as  in  one  of  his  writings  referring  to 
this  time  he  does,  for  u  allowing  the  love  of  friends 
and  carnal  affection  for  some  men  more  than  others  to 
allure  him  to  make  more  residence  in  one  place  than 
another,  thus  having  more  respect  to  the  pleasure  of  a 
few  than  to  the  necessity  of  many,  and  not  sufficiently 
considering  how  many  hungry  souls  were  in  other  places 
to  whom  none  took  pains  to  break  and  distribute  the 
bread  of  life."  But  he  was  ere  long  to  be  "  in  peril " 
as  well  as  labour.  From  the  first  he  had  augured  nothing 
but  evil  from  the  accession  of  Mary,  and  it  is  to  his 
honour  that  with  such  misgivings  in  his  heart,  he  was  at 
this  very  time  in  the  habit  of  using  in  the  pulpit  a  prayer 
of  singular  beauty  and  comprehensiveness,  in  which  we 
find  this  petition  :  "  Illuminate  the  heart  of  our  Sove- 
reign Lady  Queen  Mary  with  pregnant  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  influence  the  hearts  of  her  council  with  Thy 
true  fear  and  love."  As  the  months  rolled  round,  how- 
ever, it  became  only  too  apparent  that  England  would 
no  longer  be  a  safe  place  for  him.  The  door  of  oppor- 
tunity which  Edward  had  opened  was  speedily  closed 
by  Mary.  In  August,  indeed,  she  issued  a  proclamation 
giving  toleration  to  all  meanwhile,  forbidding  her  Pro- 
testant and  Catholic  subjects  to  interrupt  each  other's 
services,  yet  prohibiting  all  preaching  on  either  side  with- 
out licence  from  herself.  But  in  November,  under  the 
influence  of  the  violent  reaction  which  had  set  in,  and 
in  obedience  to  the  opinion  of  the  people,  three-fourths 
of  whom   were   still  attached  to   the  old  religion,    the 


6S  JOHN  KNOX. 

Commons,  by  a  vote  of  350  to  80,  enacted  that  from  the 
20th  December  following  there  should  be  no  other  form 
of  service  in  the  churches  but  what  had  been  used  in 
the  last  year  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  and  leaving  it  free  to 
all  up  till  that  date  to  use  either  of  the  books  appointed 
by  Edward  or  the  old  one  at  their  pleasure.  Up  till  the 
day  thus  specified,  therefore,  Knox  was  comparatively 
safe,  and  during  that  time  he  was  probably  in  London  a 
guest  in  the  families  of  the  Lockes  and  the  Hickmans, 
with  whose  members  he  afterwards  corresponded.  It 
was  in  this  interval  also,  as  seems  most  probable,  that 
he  began  to  prepare  his  exposition  of  the  sixth  Psalm, 
and  his  "  godly  letter  to  the  faithful  in  London,  New- 
castle, Berwick,  and  all  others  within  the  realm  of 
England  that  love  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ," 
both  of  which  were  afterwards  finished  in  France. 

From  London  he  went  to  Newcastle,  whence  on  the 
22nd  of  December  he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Bowes  a  letter 
which  contains  a  postscript  to  this  effect :  "  I  may  not 
answer  the  places  of  Scripture,  nor  yet  write  the  exposi- 
tion of  the  sixth  Psalm,  for  every  day  of  this  week  must 
I  preach,  if  this  wicked  carcase  will  permit."  But 
dangers  began  to  thicken  around  him ;  for  in  the  end 
of  December  or  beginning  of  January,  his  servant  was 
seized  as  he  carried  letters  from  him  to  Mrs.  Bowes  and 
her  daughter,  in  the  expectation  of  finding  something  in 
them  that  might  furnish  matter  of  accusation  against 
him.  They  contained  nothing  but  religious  advices  and 
such  things  as  he  was  prepared  to  avow  before  any  tri- 


LAST  DA  YS  IN  ENGLAND.  69 

bimal  in  the  country,  but  fearing  that  the  report  of  the 
matter  might  cause  uneasiness  to  his  friends  at  Berwick, 
ne  set  out  to  visit  them  in  person.  On  the  way,  how- 
ever, he  was  met  by  some  of  the  relatives  of  his  be- 
trothed, who  prevailed  on  him  to  relinquish  his  intention, 
and  to  retire  to  a  place  of  safety  on  the  coast,  from 
which,  if  necessary,  he  might  escape  out  of  the  country 
by  sea.  From  this  retreat  he  wrote  to  his  friends,  say- 
ing that  "  his  brethren  had,  partly  by  tears  and  partly 
by  admonition,  compelled  him  to  obey,  somewhat  con- 
trary to  his  own  mind,  for  never  could  he  die  in  a  more 
honest  quarrel  than  by  suffering  as  a  witness  for  that 
truth  of  which  God  had  made  him  a  messenger,"  yet 
promising  if  Providence  prepared  the  way  to  do  as  his 
counsellors  advised,  and  "give  place  to  the  fury  and  rage 
of  Satan  for  a  time."  So  when  he  became  satisfied  that 
the  apprehensions  of  his  friends  were  well  founded,  he 
procured  a  vessel  which  landed  him  safely  at  Dieppe  on 
the  20th  of  January,  1554.  What  his  pecuniary  circum- 
stances at  this  time  were  may  be  inferred  from  these 
words  in  a  letter  to  his  future  mother-in-law  :  "  I  will 
not  make  you  privy  how  rich  I  am,  but  off  {i.e.  from) 
London  I  departed  with  less  money  than  ten  groats ; 
but  God  has  since  provided,  and  will  provide  I  doubt 
not  hereafter  abundantly  for  this  life.  Either  the 
Queen's  Majesty  or  some  treasurer  will  be  forty  pounds 
richer  by  me,  for  so  much  lack  I  of  duty  of  my  patents 
(that  is,  salary  as  Royal  Chaplain),  but  that  little  troubles 
me."     And   more   interesting   even  than   that   glimpse 


70  JOHN  KNOX. 

into  his  poverty  is  the  recital  of  his  feelings  toward 
England  in  a  letter  to  the  same  correspondent  written 
just  before  his  embarkation  :  "  My  daily  prayer  is  for 
the  sore  afflicted  in  those  quarters.  Some  time  I  have 
thought  that  it  had  been  impossible  so  to  have  removed 
my  affection  from  Scotland  that  any  realm  or  nation 
could  have  been  equally  dear  unto  me ;  but  I  take  God 
to  record  in  my  conscience  that  the  troubles  present 
and  appearing  to  be  in  the  realm  of  England  are  doubly 
more  dolorous  unto  my  heart  than  ever  were  the  troubles 
of  Scotland." 

Thus  Knox  parted  from  the  realm  of  England.  Had 
he  remained  much  longer  in  it,  he  would  most  probably 
have  shared  the  fate  of  Cranmer,  Ridley,  Latimer,  and 
the  "  noble  army,"  whom  Mary's  intolerance  "  chased 
up  to  heaven."  But  God  had  other  work  for  him  to  do, 
and  it  was  well  for  Scotland  that  he  listened  to  the  en- 
treaty of  those  who  counselled  him  when  he  was  "  perse- 
cuted in  one  country ;'  to  "  flee  to  another  "  ;  so  it  came 
about  that  for  a  brief  season  he  found  refuge  in  that 
land  wherein  only  a  few  years  before  he  had  been  a 
galley-slave. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
First  Days  of  Exile,  1554. 

FROM  England  Knox  went  to  Dieppe,  where  he 
sojourned  at  this  time  for  a  month,  and  finished 
his  exposition  of  the  sixth  Psalm,  the  first  instalment  of 
which  he  had  sent  to  Mrs.  Bowes  just  before  leaving 
the  shores  of  Britain.  This  production  was  piimirily 
designed  for  the  consolation  and  encouragement  of  that 
lady,  who,  as  we  have  already  hinted,  seems  to  have 
been  afflicted  with  religious  melancholy.  Apparently 
she  was  one  of  those,  of  whom  every  pastor  has  had 
some  experience,  who  believe  that  God  has  cast  them 
off,  and  who  while  "fearing  the  Lord,"  yet  "walk  in 
darkness  and  have  no  light."  Her  life  was  one  constant 
wrestle  with  spiritual  depression,  by  which  her  intimate 
friends  were  afflicted  almost  as  much  as  she  was  herself. 
Knox  dealt  with  her  most  tenderly,  and  under  the  influ- 
ence of  his  wise  words  she  regained  her  comfort  for  a 
time,  but  after  a  little  she  was  in  the  depths  again, 
and  the  whole  process  had  to  be  gone  over  with  her 
anew.  Had  she  lived  in  modern  days,  a  prudent  friend 
would  have  counselled  her  to  consult  a  skilful  physician, 

71 


72  JOHN  KNOX, 

and  would  have  sought  to  combine  medical  treatment 
with  religious  advice.  We  cannot  wonder,  however,  that 
we  have  nothing  in  this  tractate  bearing  on  that  aspect 
of  the  matter.  The  writer  deals  throughout  with  the 
malady  as  spiritual,  but  he  treats  it  most  wisely,  and  the 
great  well  of  tenderness  in  his  heart  reveals  itself  to  the 
reader  in  such  a  passage  as  the  following:1  "These 
things  put  I  you  in  mind  of,  beloved  mother,  that  albeit 
your  pains  sometimes  be  so  horrible  that  no  release  nor 
comfort  ye  find  neither  in  spirit  nor  yet  in  body,  yet  if 
the  heart  can  only  sob  unto  God,  despair  not,  you  shall 
obtain  your  heart's  desire,  and  destitute  you  are  not  of 
faith.  For  at  such  time  as  the  flesh,  natural  reason,  the 
law  of  God,  the  present  torment,  and  the  devil  at  once 
do  cry  God  is  angry,  and  therefore  is  there  neither  help 
nor  remedy  to  be  hoped  for  at  His  hands;  at  such 
time,  I  say,  to  sob  unto  God  is  the  demonstration  of 
the  secret  seed  of  God  which  is  hid  in  God's  elect 
children,  and  that  only  sob  is  unto  God  a  more  accept- 
able sacrifice  than,  without  this  cross,  to  give  our  bodies 
to  be  burned  even  for  the  truth's  sake."  Very  compre- 
hensive also  is  this  expansion  of  the  second  petition  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer  in  the  same  treatise.2  "  We  are  com- 
manded daily  to  pray,  '  Thy  kingdom  come,'  which 
petition  asketh  that  sin  may  cease,  that  death  may  be 
devoured,  that  transitory  troubles  may  have  an  end,  that 
Satan  may  be  trodden  under  our  feet,  that  the  whole 

1  "  Works,"  vol.  iii.  p.  137. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  128. 


FIAST  DA  YS  OF  EXILE.  73 

body  of  Christ  may  be  restored  to  life,  liberty,  and  joy, 
that  the  powers  and  kingdoms  of  this  earth  may  be  dis- 
solved and  destroyed,  and  that  God  the  Father  may  be 
all  in  all  things,  after  that  His  Son  Christ  Jesus,  the 
Saviour,  hath  rendered  up  the  kingdom  for  ever."  And 
in  these  days  when  so  much  is  written,  both  wise  and 
otherwise,  on  the  subject  of  eschatology,  some  interest 
may  be  felt  in  the  following  "  bit  "  of  exposition.  "  '  For 
there  is  no  remembrance  of  Thee  in  death  ;  who  laudeth 
Thee  in  the  pit  ? '  As  (if)  David  would  say,  '  O  Lord, 
how  shall  I  pray  and  declare  Thy  goodness  when  I  am 
dead,  and  gone  into  the  grave  ?  It  is  not  the  ordinary 
course  to  have  Thy  miracles  and  wondrous  works 
preached  unto  men  by  those  that  are  buried  and  gone 
down  into  the  pit.  Those  that  are  dead  make  no 
mention  of  Thee  in  the  earth,  and  therefore,  O  Lord, 
spare  Thy  servant,  that  yet  for  a  time  I  may  show  and 
witness  Thy  wondrous  works  unto  mankind.'  These 
most  godly  affections  in  David  did  engender  in  him  a 
vehement  horror  and  fear  of  death,  besides  that  which 
is  natural  and  common  to  all  men,  because  he  perfectly 
understood  that  by  death  he  shall  be  lettit  (hindered) 
any  further  to  advance  the  glory  of  God.  Of  the  same 
he  complaineth  most  vehemently  in  the  88th  Psalm, 
where  apparently  he  taketh  from  them  that  are  dead, 
sense,  remembrance,  feeling,  and  understanding,  alleging 
that  God  worketh  no  miracles  by  the  dead,  that  the 
goodness  of  God  cannot  be  preached  in  the  grave,  nor 
.His  faith  in  perdition,  and  that  His  marvellous  works 


74  JOHN  KNOX. 

are  not  known  in  darkness.  By  which  speeches  we  may 
not  understand  that  David  taketh  all  sense  and  feeling 
from  the  dead,  neither  yet  that  they  who  are  dead  in 
Christ  are  in  such  estate  that  by  God  they  have  not 
consolation  and  life.  No  ;  Christ  Himself  doth  witness 
the  contrary.  But  David  so  vehemently  depresses  their 
estate  and  condition,  because  that  after  death  they  are 
deprived  from  (of)  all  ordinary  ministration  in  the  Kirk 
of  God.  None  of  those  that  are  departed  are  appointed 
to  be  preachers  of  God's  glory  unto  mankind.  But  after 
death  they  cease  any  more  to  advance  God's  holy  name 
here  among  the  living  on  earth,  and  so  shall  even  they 
in  that  behalf  be  unprofitable  to  the  congregation  as 
touching  anything  that  they  can  do,  either  in  body  or 
soul  after  death.  And  therefore  most  earnestly  desired 
David  to  live  in  Israel  for  the  further  manifestation  of 
God's  glory."1 

Appended  to  this  tract  there  is  the  date  "  upon  the 
very  point  of  my  journey,  the  last  of  February,  1553(4), 
so  that  Knox  left  Dieppe  about  the  beginning  of  March, 
but  before  his  departure  he  finished  and  transmitted 
the  first  of  that  series  of  admonitions  and  consolatory 
epistles  which  during  his  exile  on  the  continent  he  ad- 
dressed to  his  friends  in  England,  and  from  which  we 
have  already  quoted  so  many  passages  throwing  light 
upon  his  labours  among  them.  This  earliest  of  the 
series  is  entitled  "  A  Godly  Letter  of  Warning  or  Admo- 
nition to  the  Faithful  in  London,  Newcastle,  and  Ber- 
1  "Works,"  vol.  iii.  pp.  151-2. 


FIRST  DAYS  OF  EXILE.  75 

wick,"  and  is  written  in  a  strain  of  burning  and  impas- 
sioned expostulation.  It  is  mainly  founded  on  the 
sermon  preached  by  Jeremiah  to  the  princes  and  all  the 
people  of  Judah  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Jehoia- 
kim,  as  recorded  in  the  26th  chapter  of  his  prophecies. 
Knox  runs  a  skilful  parallel  between  the  circumstances 
of  the  Jews  before  the  destruction  of  their  capital  by 
Nebuchadnezzar,  and  those  of  the  people  of  England 
under  Mary,  and  with  the  presage  of  coming  judgment 
darkening  his  spirit,  he  exhorts  the  "remnant"  to  fidelity 
and  earnestness.  One  extract  will  give  the  reader  some 
slight  idea  of  its  style  and  purport.  1<c  Hitherto  have  I 
recited  the  estate  of  Judah  before  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  and  subversion  of  that  commonwealth.  Now 
I  appeal  to  the  conscience  of  any  indifferent  (i.e.  im- 
partial) man  in  what  one  point  differ  the  manners,  estate 
and  regiment  (i.e.  government)  of  England  this  day  from 
the  abuse  and  estate  rehearsed  of  Judah  in  these  days, 
except  that  they  had  a  king,  a  man  of  his  own  nature  (as 
appeared),  more  facile  than  cruel,  who  sometimes  was 
entreated  in  the  prophet's  favour,  and  also  in  some  cases 
heard  his  counsel ;  and  ye  have  a  queen,  a  woman  of  a 
stout  stomach  (i.e.  of  a  haughty  spirit),  more  stiff  in 
opinion  than  flexible  to  the  truth,  who  no  wise  may 
abide  the  presence  of  God's  prophets.  In  this  one 
thing  you  disagree ;  in  all  other  things  as  like  as  one 
bean  or  nut  is  like  to  another.  (1)  Their  king  was  led 
by  pestilent  priests  ;  who  guides  your  queen,  it  is  not 
1  "  Works,"  vol.  iii.  pp.  1 87-8. 


76  JOHN  KNOX. 

unknown.  (2)  Under  Zedekiah  and  his  council  the 
idolatry  which  by  Josiah  was  suppressed,  came  to  light 
again ;  but  more  abominable  idolatry  was  never  in  the 
earth  than  is  that  which  of  late  is  now  set  up  again 
by  your  pestilent  papists  among  you.  (3)  In  Jerusalem 
was  Jeremiah  persecuted  and  cast  into  prison  for  speak- 
ing the  truth  and  rebuking  their  idolatry;  what  prison  in 
London  tormenteth  not  some  true  prophet  of  God  for  the 
same  causes?  And  O  thou  dungeon  of  darkness,  where 
that  abominable  idol  of  late  days  was  first  erected  (thou 
Tower  of  London,  I  mean),  in  thee  are  tormented  more 
Jeremiahs  than  one,  whom  God  shall  comfort  according 
to  His  promise,  and  shall  reward  their  persecutors  even 
as  they  have  deserved  ;  in  which  day  also  shalt  thou 
tremble  for  fear,  and  such  as  pretend  to  defend  thee 
shall  perish  with  thee,  because  thou  wast  first  defiled 
with  that  abominable  idol." 

The  letter  concludes  with  the  following  touching  sen- 
tences : — ';  The  peace  of  God  rest  with  you  all.  From 
one  sore  troubled  heart  upon  my  departure  from  Dieppe 
— 1553(4) — whither  God  knoweth.  In  God  is  my  trust, 
through  Jesus  Christ  His  Son ;  and  therefore  I  fear  not 
the  tyranny  of  man,  neither  yet  what  the  devil  can  invent 
against  me.  Rejoice,  ye  faithful,  for  in  joy  shall  we 
meet  where  death  may  not  dissever  us." 

At  the  time  when  he  wrote  these  words  he  seems  to 
have  had  no  definite  purpose  as  to  his  immediate  des- 
tination, but  we  have  now  no  difficulty  in  tracing  his 
movements,  for  in   a   letter  addressed   to   his   afflicted 


FIRST  DAYS  OF  EXILE.  77 

brethren  in  England,  and  dated  Dieppe,  10th  May,  1554, 
we  find  the  following  words  : — "  My  own  estate  is  this  : 
since  the  28th  of  January  I  have  travelled  through  all 
the  congregations  of  Helvetia  (Switzerland),  and  have 
reasoned  with  all  the  pastors  and  many  other  excellent 
learned  men  upon  such  matters  as  now  I  cannot  commit 
to  writing  ;  gladly  I  would  by  tongue  or  by  pen  utter  the 
same  to  God's  glory."  What  these  things  were  may 
perhaps  be  inferred  from  the  words  of  Bullinger  to 
Calvin  in  a  letter  dated  26th  March,  1554,  to  this  effect : 
"  I  have  enclosed  in  this  letter  the  answer  I  made  to  the 
Scotsman  whom  you  commended  to  me  ;  you  will  re- 
turn it  to  me  when  you  have  opportunity."1  Now  as 
Knox  visited  Geneva  in  that  month  of  March,  and  ob- 
tained from  Calvin  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Bullin- 
ger, there  can  be  no  doubt,  as  Dr.  Laing  has  shown, 
that  the  reference  is  to  him.  The  questions  which  he 
submitted  to  Bullinger  were  the  following,  and  we  give 
them  entire,  with  a  brief  summary  of  the  answer  to  each, 
that  we  may  make  plain  the  gravity  and  importance  of 
the  matters  which  were  at  this  time  engrossing:  his  at- 
tention: — (1)  "Whether  the  son  of  a  king,  upon  his 
fathers  death,  though  unable  by  reason  of  his  tender 
age  to  conduct  the  government  of  the  kingdom,  is  never- 
theless by  right  of  inheritance  to  be  regarded  as  a  lawful 
magistrate,  and  as  such  to  be  obeyed  as  of  Divine  right  ?  " 
This,  illustrating  his  statement  by  a  reference  to  King 
Edward  the  Sixth  of  England,  Bullinger  answers  in  the 
1  "Works,"  vol.  iii.  pp.  219,  226. 


7S  JOHN  KNOX, 

affirmative.  (2)  "Whether  a  female  can  preside  over 
and  rule  a  kingdom  by  Divine  right,  and  so  transfer  the 
right  of  sovereignty  to  her  husband  ?  "  To  this  Bullin- 
ger  replies,  that,  though  the  law  of  God  ordains  the 
woman  to  be  in  subjection,  yet  as  it  is  a  hazardous  thing 
for  godly  persons  to  set  themselves  up  in  opposition  to 
political  regulations,  and  in  the  gospel  does  not  seem  to 
unsettle  hereditary  rights,  the  people  of  God  may  rejoice 
in  a  female  sovereign  if  she  be  like  Deborah ;  and  if  she 
be  of  a  different  character,  they  may  have  an  example 
and  consolation  in  the  case  of  Athaliah;  but  with  re- 
spect to  the  right  of  transferring  the  government  to  her 
husband,  only  those  persons  who  are  acquainted  with  the 
laws  and  customs  of  the  realm  can  give  a  proper  answer. 
(3)  "  Whether  obedience  is  to  be  rendered  to  a  magis- 
trate who  enforces  idolatry  and  condemns  true  religion  ; 
and  whether  those  authorities  who  are  still  in  military 
occupations  of  towns  and  fortresses  are  permitted  to 
repel  this  ungodly  violence  from  themselves  and  their 
friends  ?  "  No  definite  or  categorical  answer  is  given  to 
this  inquiry,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  difficult  to  pro- 
nounce on  every  particular  case ;  but  while  there  is  need 
of  wisdom,  lest  by  rashness  and  corruption  much  mischief 
may  be  occasioned  to  many  worthy  persons,  it  is  un- 
equivocally asserted  that  death  itself  is  far  preferable  to 
the  admission  of  idolatry.  (4)  "  To  which  party  must 
godly  persons  attach  themselves  in  the  case  of  a  religious 
nobility  resisting  an  idolatrous  sovereign  ?  "  This  is  left 
by  the  Swiss  Reformer  to  the  judgment  of  the  individual 


FIRST  DA  YS  OF  EXILE.  79 

conscience.  Between  the  lines  of  these  questions  we 
can  easily  read  that  Knox  was  pondering  questions  which 
lie  near  the  foundation  of  civil  and  religious  liberty; 
and  that,  foreseeing  the  occasion  which  he  might  soon 
have  for  dealing  practically  with  them,  he  availed  him- 
self of  the  opportunity  furnished  by  his  exile  for  consult- 
ing the  most  eminent  Swiss  Protestant  divines  regarding 
them. 

He  returned  to  Dieppe  in  May,  1554,  and  remained 
there  until  the  end  of  July  in  order  that  he  might  gain 
accurate  information  concerning  his  brethren  in  England, 
and  might  learn  whether  he  could  do  anything  in  their 
behalf.  To  these  weeks  must  be  assigned  the  preparation 
and  transmission  of  his  "  Faithful  Admonition  unto  the 
Professors  of  God's  Truth  in  England,"  which  caused  him 
so  much  trouble  in  the  Frankfort  episode  of  his  history. 
For  that  reason,  therefore,  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  brief 
account  of  this  trenchant  production.  It  is  evidently 
the  expansion  of  a  discourse  formerly  preached  by  him 
on  the  experience  of  the  disciples  in  the  storm,  when  they 
"toiled  in  rowing"  because  "the  wind  was  contrary  unto 
them,"  with  a  pungent  and  sometimes  not  very  prudent 
application  of  its  lessons  to  the  circumstances  which  then 
existed  in  England.  It  was  his  habit  to  preach  his 
sermons  before  he  wrote  them,  and  indeed,  so  far  as 
appears,  he  did  not  often  write  them  out,  even  after  they 
had  been  delivered,  but  usually  contented  himself  with 
speaking  from  a  few  notes,  which  were  made  in  the 
margin  of  his  Bible,  and  which  remained  the  sole  mem- 


80  JOHN  KNOX. 

oranda  of  the  discourse.  In  the  present  case  the  note 
was  to  the  effect  "  Videat  Anglia" — "Let  England 
beware!"  and  the  matter  written  in  his  book  in  Latin 
was  this  :  "  Seldom  it  is  that  God  worketh  any  notable 
work  to  the  comfort  of  His  Church  but  that  trouble,  fear, 
and  labour  cometh  upon  such  as  God  hath  used  for  His 
servants  and  His  workmen  ;  and  also  tribulation  most 
commonly  followeth  that  Church  where  Christ  Jesus  is 
most  truly  preached."  In  his  exposition  he  goes  on  to 
explain  why,  after  the  miracle  of  the  feeding  of  the  mul- 
titude, Christ  sent  both  the  people  at  large  and  His 
disciples  away ;  and  dwells  on  the  danger  to  which  the 
apostles  were  exposed,  the  manner  of  their  deliverance 
through  the  coming  and  the  word  of  Christ,  the  zeal  of 
Peter  in  seeking  to  meet  the  Lord  on  the  waves,  and  his 
fear  in  sinking  in  the  waters,  and  the  mercy  of  the 
Master  in  permitting  neither  Peter  nor  the  rest  of  the 
disciples  to  perish,  but  gloriously  delivering  them  all. 
Into  his  treatment  of  these  several  things  he  introduces 
plentiful  allusions  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  England,  and 
the  object  which  he  has  before  him  as  a  whole  is  two- 
fold— first,  to  encourage  those  who  had  made  a  pro- 
fession of  the  Reformed  Faith  to  maintain  the  beginning 
cf  their  confidence  steadfast  unto  the  end ;  and  second, 
to  give  warning  of  the  dangers  which  were  to  be  appre- 
hended if  the  kingdom  should  come  under  the  dominion 
of  strangers,  as  it  would  infallibly  do  when  Mary  became 
the  wife  of  Philip  of  Spain.  The  admonition  bears  the 
imprint  "20th  day  of  July,   1554."     Now  the  marriage 


FIRST  DAYS  OF  EXILE.  8 1 

of  Mary  to  Philip  was  celebrated  on  the  25th  day  of  that 
same  month,  and  it  was  provided  by  the  treaty  for  that 
alliance,  and  confirmed  by  Act  of  Parliament,  that  Philip, 
as  the  husband  of  Mary,  "should  have  and  enjoy,  jointly 
with  the  Queen  his  wife,  the  style,  honour,  and  kingly 
name  of  the  realm  and  dominions  unto  the  said  Queen 
appertaining,  and  shall  aid  her  Highness,  being  his  wife, 
in  the  happy  administration  of  her  realm  and  dominions." 
This  helps  us  to  understand  one  of  the  questions  which 
Knox  had  proposed  to  Bullinger,  and  explains  at  least, 
if  it  cannot  justify,  the  vehemence  of  his  feelings  and  the 
violence  of  his  words  in  the  "admonition."  He  speaks 
of  "  Stephen  Gardiner  and  his  black  brood  ; "  calls  the 
wafer  of  the  host  "  the  round  clipped  God ; "  declares 
that  "  the  devil  rageth  in  his  obedient  servants,  wily 
Winchester,  dreaming  Durham,  and  bloody  Bonner,  with 
the  rest  of  their  bloody,  butcherly  brood ; "  avers  that 
Jezebel  "  never  erected  half  so  many  gallows  in  all  Israel 
as  mischievous  Mary  hath  done  within  London  alone  ;  " 
denounces  Mary  as  a  *'  breaker  of  promises;"  calls  her 
that  most  unhappy  and  wicked  woman  ; "  and  foretells 
evil  for  England  if  she — i.e.  England— contract  marriage, 
confederacy,  or  league  with  such  princes  as  do  maintain 
and  advance  idolatry  (such  as  the  Emperor,  which  is  no 
less  an  enemy  here  to  Christ  than  ever  was  Nero)."  All 
this  is  dreadful  enough.  But  let  us  bear  in  mind  that 
Mary,  on  her  accession,  had  publicly  declared  that  she 
"meant  graciously  not  to  compel  or  strain  other  men's 
consciences  otherwise  than  God  should,  as  she  trusted, 

G 


V^ 


82  JOHN  KNOX. 

put  in  their  hearts  a  persuasion  of  the  truth,  through  the 
opening  of  His  word  unto  them,"  and  that,  by  her  subse- 
quent conduct  she  had  utterly  falsified  that  word ;  let  it 
be  remembered  that  at  the  very  time  of  Knox's  writing, 
Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimer  had  been  prisoners  for 
seven  or  eight  months  in  the  Tower,  first  under  the 
charge  of  treason,  and  latterly  under  that  of  heresy;  let 
it  be  considered  that  reports  were  continually  coming 
to  Knox's  ears  of  the  daily  increasing  sufferings  of  the 
Protestants  in  England,  and  then  some  allowance  will  be 
made  for  the  outburst  of  his  indignation  in  these  passion- 
ate utterances.  Still,  when  we  have  made  all  such  allow- 
ance, we  must  admit  that  a  more  cautious  man  would 
have  foreseen  that  a  probable  effect  of  such  a  bitter  on- 
slaught would  be  the  increase  of  the  persecutor's  fury, 
and  would  not  have  gone  out  of  his  way  to  irritate  the 
German  Emperor  by  comparing  him  with  Nero.  But 
caution  never  was  one  of  Knox's  distinctive  excellences. 
If  it  had,  he  would  not  have  become  a  Reformer,  for 
your  merely  cautious  men  are  of  very  little  service  either 
to  their  generation  or  to  the  world.  Boldness  is  neces- 
sary for  progress,  and  where  the  boldness  is,  we  must 
reconcile  ourselves  as  best  we  may  to  its  attendant 
shadow.  In  the  present  instance  Knox  paid  dearly 
enough  for  his  imprudence,  as  we  shall  shortly  see,  and 
we  may  therefore  content  ourselves  with  this  simple 
reference  to  it 


CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Troubles  at  Frankfort,  1554-1555. 

FROM  Dieppe,  after  having  launched  across  the 
channel  the  thunderbolt  of  the  "  Faithful  Ad- 
monition," Knox  retired  to  Geneva,  where  he  enjoyed 
the  friendship  of  John  Calvin  and  other  Swiss  divines, 
and  where,  though  he  was  now  bordering  on  fifty  years 
of  age,  he  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  Hebrew  with 
all  the  ardour  of  youth.  But  such  a  man  could  not 
long  be  permitted  to  enjoy  learned  leisure.  Accord- 
ingly we  find  that  in  the  end  of  September,  1554,  he 
was  called  to  be  one  of  the  pastors  of  a  congregation 
of  English  exiles  who  had  found  an  asylum  in 
Frankfort-on-the-Maine,  a  city  whose  inhabitants  had 
early  embraced  the  principles  of  the  Reformation,  and 
befriended  refugees  from  all  countries  so  far  as  that 
could  be  done  by  them  without  coming  to  an  open 
breach  with  the  Emperor.  Already  a  church  of  French 
Protestants  was  in  existence  there,  and  on  application 
to  the  authorities  the  English  exiles  obtained  the 
joint  use  of  the  place  of  worship  allotted  to  that 
congregation,  on  condition   that   they   should   in   their 


84  JOHN  KNOX. 

service  conform  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  forms 
observed  by  the  French.  This  was  thankfully  accepted 
by  the  English,  who  agreed  among  themselves,  be  it 
observed  before  Knox  appeared  among  them,  to  give 
up  the  audible  responses,  the  Litany,  the  surplice,  and 
other  things  which  "  in  these  reformed  churches  would 
seem  more  than  strange."  It  is  added  in  the  "  Brief 
Discourse  of  the  Troubles  begun  at  Frankfort "  which 
lies  before  us  as  we  write,  that  "  as  touching  the 
ministration  of  the  sacraments,  sundry  things  were  also 
by  common  consent  omitted  as  superstitious  and 
superfluous  ; "  and  that  "  after  that  the  congregation 
had  thus  concluded  and  agreed,  and  had  chosen  their 
minister  and  deacons  to  serve  for  a  time,  they  entered 
their  church  on  the  29th  of  July." 

Having  thus  secured  for  themselves  religious  privi- 
leges, the  Frankfort  exiles  by  a  circular  letter  invited 
their  brethren  in  other  continental  cities  to  come  and 
share  the  blessing  with  them.  To  this  the  English 
residents  at  Strasburg  replied  recommending  certain 
persons  as  well  qualified  to  fill  the  offices  of  super- 
intendent or  bishop,  and  pastors,  but  before  receiving 
that  communication  the  brethren  at  Frankfort  had 
already  chosen  three  persons,  one  of  whom  was  Knox, 
to  be  their  pastors,  and  to  be  invested  with  co-ordinate 
authority.  The  invitation  was  not  specially  attractive 
to  Knox,  both  because  he  was  loth  to  sacrifice  the 
advantages  for  study  which  he  was  enjoying  at 
Geneva,  and  because  he  feared  the  outbreak  of  such  a 


THE    TROUBLES  AT  FRANKFORT  85 

controversy  as  ultimately  arose.  But  moved  by  what 
McCrie  has  styled  "  the  powerful  intercession  of  Calvin," 
he  accepted  the  call  and  went  to  Frankfort  about  the 
end  of  October  or  the  beginning  of  November.  Before 
his  arrival  there,  however,  the  harmony  of  the  congrega- 
tion had  been  disturbed  by  the  reception  of  a  letter 
from  the  English  residents  at  Zurich,  who  declined  to 
come  to  Frankfort  unless  they  obtained  security  that  the 
Church  would  use  the  Prayer-Book  of  King  Edward  VI., 
on  the  ground  that  the  rejection  or  alteration  of  that  form 
of  service  would  give  occasion  for  the  charge  against 
them  of  fickleness  in  their  religion,  and  would  be  a  virtual 
condemnation  of  those  who  at  that  very  time  were 
suffering  persecution  on  its  account.  To  this  the 
members  of  the  church  at  Frankfort  replied  that  they 
had  obtained  permission  to  use  their  place  of  worship 
on  the  condition  of  their  conforming  as  closely  as 
possible  to  the  French  ritual ;  that  there  ■  were  some 
things  in  the  English  book  which  would  give  offence 
to  the  Protestants  of  the  place  whose  hospitality  they 
were  enjoying ;  that  certain  ceremonies  in  that  book 
had  been  occasion  of  scruple  to  conscientious  persons 
at  home ;  that  they  were  very  far  indeed  from  pro- 
nouncing condemnation  of  those  who  had  drawn  up 
that  book,  since  they  themselves  had  altered  many 
things ;  and  that  the  sufferers  in  England  were  testify- 
ing for  more  important  matters  than  rites  of  mere 
human  appointment.  This  answer,  while  it  somewhat 
abated  the  confidence  of  the  friends  at  Zurich,  did  not 


86  JOHN  KNOX. 

drive  them  from  their  purpose,  for  they  instigated  their 
brethren  at  Strasburg  to  make  the  same  request  both 
by  letter  and  by  deputation,  and  thus  widened  the 
area  of  the  controversy. 

This  was  the  state  of  things  when  Knox  appeared 
upon  the  scene,  and  although  his  convictions  were 
strongly  on  the  side  of  those  who  opposed  the  adoption 
of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  he  strove  to  act  the 
part  of  a  peacemaker,  as  far  as  he  consistently  could. 
For  when  the  congregation  agreed  to  adopt  the  order 
of  worship  followed  in  Calvin's  Church  at  Geneva,  he 
declined  to  carry  out  that  determination  until  their 
learned  brethren  in  other  places  should  be  consulted. 
He  confessed  that  he  could  not  conscientiously 
administer  the  sacraments  according  to  the  English 
book,  but  he  offered  to  restrict  himself  solely  to  the 
preaching  of  the  word,  and  let  some  one  else  administer 
the  sacraments;  and  if  that  freedom  could  not  be 
granted  to  him,  he  desired  that  he  might  be  altogether 
released  from  the  pastorate  to  which  he  had  been  chosen. 
But  the  congregation  would  not  consent  to  give  him 
up,  and  in  the  hope  of  preventing  future  controversy, 
Knox,  who  was  joined  by  Whittingham,  afterwards 
Dean  of  Durham,  and  others,  drew  up  a  fair  summary 
and  description  of  the  English  Prayer-Book,  which  they 
sent  to  Calvin  for  his  inspection  and  advice.  In  his 
reply  the  Genevese  Reformer  bewailed  the  existence  of 
unseemly  contentions  among  them;  claimed  that  he 
had  always  counselled  moderation  respecting   external 


THE    TROUBLES  AT  FRANKFORT.  87 

ceremonies,  yet  condemned  the  obstinacy  of  those 
who  would  consent  to  no  change  of  old  customs ;  de- 
clared that  in  the  English  liturgy  he  had  found  many 
"tolei'abiics  incplias" — tolerable  fooleries, — which  might 
be  borne  with  in  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation, 
but  ought  to  be  removed  as  soon  as  possible  ;  gave  it 
as  his  opinion  that  the  circumstances  of  the  exiles  in 
Frankfort  warranted  them  to  attempt  the  removal  of 
such  blemishes  ;  and  rather  caustically  remarked  that 
"he  could  not  tell  what  they  meant  who  so  greatly 
delighted  in  the  leavings  of  popish  dregs." 

This  letter  produced  considerable  effect,  and  a  com- 
mittee, of  which  Knox  was  one,  was  appointed  to  draw 
up  a  form  which  might  harmonize  all  parties.  When 
this  committee  met,  Knox  acknowledging  that  there  was 
no  hope  of  peace  unless  "one  party  somethingtrelented," 
indicated  how  far  he  was  willing  to  go  in  the  direction  of 
compromise ;  and  the  result  was  the  drawing  up  of  a 
form  of  which  "  some  part  was  taken  from  the  English 
Prayer-Book,  and  other  things  put  to,  as  the  state  of  the 
Church  required."  By  the  consent  of  the  congregation 
this  order  was  to  continue  until  the  month  of  April ; 
and  if  any  contention  should  meanwhile  arise,  the  matter 
was  to  be  referred  for  decision  to  these  five  learned  men, 
namely,  Calvin,  Musculus,  Martyr,  Bullinger,  and  Vyret. 
This  agreement  was  put  in  writing,  and  subscribed  by 
the  members  of  the  congregation  amid  the  joy  of  all. 
"Thanks  were  given  to  God,  brotherly  reconciliation 
followed,  great  familiarity  (was)   used,  and  the  former 


88  JOHN  KNOX. 

grudges  forgotten ;  yea,  the  Holy  Communion  was  upon 
this  happy  agreement  also  ministered." 

But  this  peace  was  not  of  long  continuance,  for  on 
the  13th  of  March  Dr.  Richard  Cox,  who  had  been 
the  preceptor  of  Edward  VI.,  and  who  was  afterwards 
a  bishop  under  Queen  Elizabeth,  arrived  in  Frankfort 
with  a  company  like-minded  with  himself;  and  on  the 
very  first  day  on  which  they  attended  public  worship, 
they  broke  the  concordat  by  indulging  in  audible 
responses.  When  they  were  expostulated  with  by  some 
of  the  seniors,  or  elders,  of  the  congregation  for  their 
disorderly  conduct,  they  replied  that  "  they  would  do  as 
they  had  done  in  England,  and  that  they  would  have 
the  face  of  an  English  Church ; "  and  on  the  following 
Sunday  one  of  their  number,  without  the  knowledge  or 
consent  oi^the  congregation,  entered  the  pulpit  and  read 
the  Litany,  while  the  rest  answered  aloud.  This  was  a 
still  more  flagrant  breach  of  the  agreement,  for  Knox  and 
his  friends  specially  objected  to  the  Litany  ;  and  there- 
fore on  the  afternoon,  it  being  his  turn  to  preach,  Knox 
made  a  public  protest  against  such  procedure.  He 
showed  how  after  long  trouble  and  contention  among 
them,  a  godly  agreement  had  been  made,  and  how  it  had 
been  ungodly  broken,  "  which  thing  it  became  not  the 
proudest  of  them  all  to  have  attempted."  He  further 
alleged  that  as  we  must  seek  our  warrant  for  the 
establishing  of  religion  from  the  word  of  God,  and  with- 
out that  nothing  should  be  thrust  into  any  Christian 
congregation ;  and  as  in  the  English  Prayer  Book  there 


THE   TROUBLES  AT  FRANKFORT.  89 

were,  as  he  was  prepared  to  prove,  things  both  super- 
stitious, impure,  and  imperfect,  he  would  not  consent 
that  it  should  be  received  in  that  Church  j  and  he 
declared  that  if  the  attempt  should  be  made,  he  would 
not  fail  to  speak  against  it  from  that  place,  as  his  text 
might  furnish  occasion.  He  also  affirmed  that,  among 
other  things  which  provoked  God's  anger  against 
England,  slackness  to  reform  religion  when  time  and 
opportunity  were  granted  was  one  ;  and  as  an  instance 
of  that  slackness  he  specified,  to  the  sore  wounding  of 
some  then  present,  the  allowing  of  one  man  to  have 
three,  four,  or  five  benefices,  to  the  slander  of  the  gospel, 
and  the  defrauding  of  the  people. 

This  remonstrance  brought  things  to  a  crisis,  and  on 
the  following  Tuesday  the  congregation  met  to  take  the 
whole  matter  into  consideration.  Cox  and  bis  company 
claimed  the  right  of  sitting  and  voting  with  the  rest,  but 
it  was  contended  that  they  should  not  be  admitted  until 
they  had  subscribed  the  discipline  of  the  Church.  This 
objection  would  have  prevailed,  but  on  the  intercession 
of  Knox  they  were  received,  and  they  rewarded  his 
magnanimity  by  outvoting  him,  and,  at  the  instigation 
of  Cox,  discharging  him  from  preaching  and  from  all 
interference  in  the  affairs  of  the  congregation.  This, 
however,  only  made  matters  worse  ;  and  to  prevent  a 
disgraceful  tumult,  the  whole  case  was  referred  to  the 
senate  of  the  city,  from  whom  they  had  obtained  per- 
mission to  use  the  place  of  worship  in  which  they 
assembled.     That  body,  after  in  vain  recommending  a 


90  JOHN  KNOX. 

private  accommodation,  issued  an  order  requiring  the 
congregation  to  conform  exactly  to  the  French  ritual, 
and  threatening  if  that  were  disobeyed  to  shut  up  the 
church.  With  this  injunction  Cox  and  his  party  out- 
wardly complied  for  the  time ;  but  seeing  the  influence 
which  Knox  possessed,  and  having  no  hope  of  carrying 
their  point  so  long  as  he  should  remain  among  them, 
they  took  means  of  the  basest  sort  to  get  him  out  of  the 
way.  For  two  of  them  went  privately  to  the  magistrates 
of  the  city  and  accused  Knox  of  high  treason  against  the 
emperor,  and  against  Mary,  Queen  of  England,  putting 
forth  as  the  ground  of  their  charge  those  passages  from 
the  Faithful  Admonition  which  we  have  already  quoted. 
On  receipt  of  this  charge  the  magistrates  sent  for 
Whittingham,  and  asked  him  concerning  the  character 
of  Knox,  whom  he  described  in  his  reply  as  "a  learned, 
grave,  and  godly  man."  They  then  informed  him  of 
the  charge  which  had  been  preferred  against  him,  and 
requested  that  he  would  furnish  them  with  an  exact 
Latin  translation  of  the  sentences  of  his  tract,  nine  in 
number,  which  had  been  brought  to  their  particular 
attention.  They  gave  orders  also  that  meanwhile  Knox 
should  desist  from  preaching  until  their  pleasure  should 
be  known.  With  this  command  Knox  loyally  complied; 
but  when  he  appeared  next  day  in  the  church  as  an 
ordinary  hearer,  not  thinking  that  any  would  be  offended 
at  his  presence,  "  some  departed  from  the  sermon,  pro- 
testing with  great  vehemence  that  they  would  not  tarry 
where  he  was." 


THE    TROUBLES  AT  FRANKFORT.  91 

The  action  of  the  informers  was  most  embarrassing  to 
the  magistrates,  who  abhorred  the  malice  by  which  they 
were  evidently  actuated,  but  at  the  same  time  feared  that 
the  matter  might  come  to  the  ears  of  the  emperor's 
council  then  sitting  at  Augsburg,  and  that  they  might  be 
compelled  to  give  Knox  up  to  them  or  to  the  Queen  of 
England;  and  as  the  best  means  of  extricating  them- 
selves from  the  difficulty,  they  suggested  that  he  should 
privately  withdraw  from  the  city.  Accordingly  on  the 
evening  of  the  25th  of  March,  1555,  he  delivered  a 
most  consolatory  address  to  about  fifty  of  the  members 
of  the  Church  in  his  own  lodgings  ;  and  "  the  next 
day,"  to  borrow  the  words  of  the  author  of  the  Brief 
Discourse,  "  he  was  brought  three  or  four  miles  on  his 
way  by  some  of  these  unto  whom  the  night  before  he 
had  made  that  exhortation,  who,  with  great  heaviness 
of  heart  and  plenty  of  tears,  committed  him  to  the 
Lord." 

The  sequel  is  soon  told.  Cox,  by  falsely  represent- 
ing that  the  congregation  was  now  unanimous,  obtained 
an  order  from  the  senate  for  the  unrestricted  use  of  the 
English  Prayer-Book,  and  then  procured  in  the  Church 
the  abrogation  of  the  code  of  discipline,  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  superintendent  or  bishop  over  the  other 
pastors.  The  result  was  that  a  considerable  number  of 
the  members  left  the  city,  and  the  remainder  continued 
a  prey  to  strife,  which  Cox  and  his  friends  did  not  stay 
to  compose,  for  they  also  soon  took  their  departure  to 
other  places.     The  Church   was  thus  virtually  broken 


92  JOHN  KNOX. 

up ;  and  it  is  not  without  significance  that,  in  seeking 
afterwards  to  be  excused  from  performing  service  before 
a  crucifix  in  the  chapel  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  Cox 
employed  the  very  argument  which  Knox  had  urged 
without  effect  upon  himself,  for  he  said,  "  I  ought 
to  do  nothing  touching  religion  which  may  appear 
doubtful,  whether  it  pleaseth  God  or  not;  for  our  re- 
ligion ought  to  be  certain,  and  grounded  upon  God's 
word  and  will." 

We  have  gone  thus  fully  into  the  "  Frankfort  troubles," 
not  so  much  because,  as  McCrie  says,  they  present  in 
miniature  a  striking  picture  of  that  contentious  scene 
which  was  afterwards  exhibited  on  a  larger  scale  in 
England,  or  because  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  find 
similar  divisions  on  precisely  similar  points  in  the  days 
in  which  we  live,  but  because  of  the  insight  which  the 
history  gives  us  into  the  character  of  Knox  himself. 
The  controversy  was  keen  and  bitter  ;  but  throughout  it 
all  our  Reformer  shows  to  great  advantage, — evincing 
what  Carlyle  has  called  "a  great  and  unexpected 
patience,"  by  which  we  suppose  he  means  a  patience 
which  those  who  know  nothing  more  about  him  than  the 
usual  caricature  of  his  character,  which  too  many  have 
accepted,  would  hardly  have  expected.  But  the  readers 
of  his  letter  to  his  Berwick  friends,  on  which  we  have 
already  commented,  could  have  looked  for  nothing  else 
at  his  hands  ;  and  we  commend  the  study  of  this  episode 
in  his  history  to  all  those  who  have  been  accustomed  to 
regard  him  as  a  dogmatic,  domineering,  impracticable 


THE    TROUBLES  AT  FRANKFORT.  93 

man,  who  was  determined  always  to  have  his  way  in  the 
scorn  of  every  consequence.  The  offer  to  restrict  him- 
self solely  to  preaching,  or,  if  that  should  not  be  granted, 
to  go  quietly  away,  stands  out  to  his  lasting  honour,  and 
shows  how  eager  he  was  to  prevent  all  strife ;  while  the 
simple  mention  by  the  chronicler  of  the  "  plenty  of 
tears "  shed  by  those  who  accompanied  him  out  of 
the  city,  witnesses  to  the  tenderness  of  his  friendship  ; 
and  by  both  alike  we  are  reminded  of  the  great  apostle 
whose  words  were  so  constantly  upon  his  lips.  In 
reviewing  the  whole  case,  he  cannot  help  recalling  that 
his  opponents  had  brought  against  him  the  old  cry,  "  He 
is  not  Csesar's  friend  ;  "  but  he  prays  for  them  thus,  "  O 
Lord  God,  open  their  hearts  that  they  may  see  their 
wickedness,  and  forgive  them  for  Thy  manifold  mercies ; 
and  I  forgive  them,  O  Lord,  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart.  But  that  Thy  message  sent  by  my  mouth  should 
not  be  slandered,  I  am  compelled  to  declare  the  cause 
of  my  departing,  and  so  to  utter  their  folly,  to  their 
amendment  I  trust,  and  the  example  of  others  who,  in 
the  same  banishment,  can  have  so  cruel  hearts  to 
persecute  their  brethren."  His  opponents  tried  to 
excuse  themselves,  and  in  a  letter  to  Calvin  put  the  best 
possible  construction  on  their  case ;  but  nothing  said  by 
them  altered  the  opinion  of  the  great  Reformer,  in  which 
we  are  persuaded  all  fair-minded  men,  whatever  may  be 
their  ecclesiastical  opinions  will  agree,  to  this  effect : — 
"  But  certainly  this  one  thing  I  cannot  keep  secret, 
that  Mr.  Knox  was,  in  my  judgment,  neither  godly  nor 


94  JOHN  KNOX. 

brotherly  dealt  withal."  It  was  a  hard  and  bitter  exper- 
ience, and  no  doubt  it  had  its  influence  in  determining 
him,  when  he  came  to  deal  with  the  Reformation  of 
Scotland,  to  make  more  thorough  work  of  it  than  they 
had  done  in  England. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Ministry  at  Geneva,  1555-1559. 

ON  his  departure  from  Frankfort  Knox  made  his 
way  to  Geneva,  whither  he  was  followed  by  a 
considerable  number  of  those  who  had  adhered  to  him 
in  the  former  city.  There  it  seems  evident  that  he  was 
invited  by  them,  and  probably  also  by  others  who  had 
joined  them,  to  resume  his  pastoral  labours;  for  at  the 
solicitation  of  Calvin,  the  Lesser  Council  of  Geneva 
granted  for  the  joint  use  of  the  English  and  Italian 
congregations  the  church  called  the  Temple  de  Nostre 
Dame  la  Nove ;  and  it  is  recorded  that  on  the  first 
of  November,  1555,  when  the  English  Church  was 
formed,  Christopher  Goodman  and  Arthur  Gilby  were 
"appointed  to  preach  the  word,  in  the  absence  of  John 
Knox."  This  indicates  that  Knox  was  already  re- 
cognised as  one  of  the  permanent  pastors  of  the  Church, 
and  that  just  at  that  time  he  was  for  some  reason  or 
other,  away  for  a  long  season  from  the  scene  of  his 
labours. 

Where   he  was   and   what   he    was   doing   we   have 
ample  means  of  tracing,  for  in  the  September  of  that 


96  JOHN  KNOX. 

year  we  find  him  back  again  in  Scotland,  for  the  first 
time  since  he  had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the  French. 
But  much  as  he  cared  for  the  spiritual  interests  of  his 
native  land,  it  is  probable  that  his  return  to  Great 
Britain  at  this  time  was  more  immediately  prompted 
by  feelings  of  a  personal  nature.  We  have  already 
referred  to  his  attachment  to  Marjory  Bowes,  daughter 
of  Richard  Bowes,  and  of  Elizabeth  Aske,  of  Aske,  near 
Berwick,  and  Dr.  Laing  has  given  strong  reasons  for 
believing  that  he  came  now  for  the  purpose  of  making 
her  his  wife.  The  precise  date  of  his  marriage,  indeed, 
is  uncertain.  Dr.  McCrie  has  put  it  in  1553,  before  he 
left  England;  on  the  ground  that  after  that  date  Knox 
invariably  addressed  Mrs.  Bowes  as  his  "  mother "  and 
spoke  of  Marjory  as  his  "wife."  The  truth,  however, 
seems  to  have  been  that  owing  to  the  strong  opposition 
of  her  father  and  other  relatives  to  the  alliance,  and 
also,  perhaps,  to  the  very  uncertain  position  of  the 
Reformer  himself,  in  these  times  of  unsettlement  and 
peril,  they  contented  themselves  in  1553  with  formally 
pledging  themselves  to  each  other  "  before  witnesses." 
But  now,  immediately  on  his  landing,  at  a  point  on 
the  east  shore  not  far  from  the  boundary  between 
England  and  Scotland,  he  repaired  to  Berwick,  where 
he  found  Marjory  and  her  mother  enjoying  the  happi- 
ness of  religious  society.  After  this,  he  visited  Scotland, 
where  he  laboured  for  some  months,  and  the  marriage 
may  not  have  taken  place  until  the  time  when, 
preparatory  to  their  setting  out  for  Geneva,  Mrs.  Bowes 


MINIS TR Y  AT  GENE VA.  97 

resolved  to  leave  all  her  relatives  and  cast  in  her  lot 
with  her  son-in-law. 

The  visit  of  Knox  to  Scotland,  at  this  juncture,  was  of 
immense  service  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformation.  The 
clergy,  unable  or  unwilling  to  discern  the  signs  of  the 
times,  had  sunk  into  supineness,  under  the  belief  that 
what  they  called  heresy  had  been  well-nigh  banished 
from  the  land.  Arran,  now  Duke  of  Chatellerault,  had 
given  place  as  Regent  to  Mary,  the  mother  of  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots,  whose  policy  it  was  just  then  to 
temporize  with  the  Protestant  nobles,  and  to  disguise 
for  a  season  her  deep-rooted  and  undying  hatred  of 
their  cause.  In  the  good  providence  of  God,  also, 
a  number  of  the  leading  adherents  of  the  new  faith, 
like  Erskine  of  Dun,  Maitland  of  Lethington,  and  others, 
had  come  to  Edinburgh  to  confer  with  and  enjoy  the 
ministrations  of  John  Willock,  who  had  been  sent 
over  by  the  Duchess  of  East  Friesland,  ostensibly  on 
a  commercial  mission  to  the  Scottish  court,  but  really 
to  see  "  what  good  work  God  would  do  by  him  to 
his  native  land ; "  and  the  private  meetings  which  he 
held  with  the  Protestants  in  Edinburgh  for  prayer  and 
the  exposition  of  the  word,  may  have  suggested  to  Knox 
that  he  should  follow  a  similar  plan.  That  at  least 
was  the  course  which  he  determined  to  pursue.  Pie 
was  received  into  the  houses  of  certain  burgesses  whose 
names  he  has  enshrined  in  his  history,  and  though  the 
number  of  meetings  and  the  necessity  of  holding  them 
in  secret  kept  him  busy  night  and  day,  he  was  greatly 

H 


93  JOHN  KNOX. 

encouraged  by  the  results.  Writing  to  Mrs.  Bowes,  he 
says  that  "the  fervent  thirst  of  his  brethren,  night  and 
day,  sobbing  and  groaning  for  the  bread  of  life,  was 
such,  that  if  he  had  not  seen  it  with  his  own  eyes  he 
could  not  have  believed  it ; "  and  again  that  "  the 
fervency  here  did  far  exceed  all  others  that  he  had 
seen ; "  and  "  did  so  ravish  him,  that  he  could  not  but 
accuse  and  condemn  his  slothful  coldness." 

The  news  of  his  arrival  spread  among  the  Reformers 
in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  his  presence  was  so 
eagerly  desired  everywhere  that  he  was  obliged  to 
postpone  his  return  to  Berwick,  and  enter  upon  a  series 
of  evangelistic  journeys  through  different  districts  of 
the  land.  But  we  will  allow  him  to  describe  his  work 
at  this  time  himself.  Thus  he  writes  in  his  "  History"  : 
"  John  Knox,  at  the  request  of  the  Laird  of  Dun, 
followed  him  to  his  place  oif  Dun,  where  he  remained 
a  month,  daily  exercised  in  doctrine,  whereunto  resorted 
the  principal  men  of  that  country.  After  his  return- 
ing, his  residence  was  most  in  Calder,  where  repaired 
unto  him  the  Lord  Erskine,  the  Lord  Lorn,  and  Lord 
James  Stuart,  Prior  of  St.  Andrews  (half-brother  to 
Mary  Stuart),  where  they  heard  and  so  approved  his 
doctrine,  that  they  wished  it  to  have  been  public.  That 
same  winter  he  taught  commonly  in  Edinburgh ;  and 
after  the  Yule  (Christmas)  by  the  conduct  of  the  Laird 
of  Barr,  and  Robert  Campbell  of  Kinzeancleugh,  he 
came  to  Kyle,  and  taught  in  the  Barr,  in  the  house  of 
the  Carnell,  in  the  Kinzeancleugh,  in  the  town  of  Ayr, 


MINISTRY  AT  GENEVA.  99 

and  in  the  houses  of  Ochiltree  and  Gadgirth,  and  in 
some  of  them  ministered  the  Lord's  Table.  Before  the 
Pasch  (Easter)  the  Earl  of  Glencairn  sent  for  him  to 
his  place  of  Finlaston,  where,  after  doctrine,  he  like- 
wise ministered  the  Lord's  Table ;  whereof,  besides  him- 
self, were  partakers  his  lady,  two  of  his  sons,  and 
certain  of  his  friends.  And  so  returned  he  to  Calder, 
where  clivers  from  Edinburgh,  and  from  the  country 
about,  convened  as  well  for  the  doctrine  as  for  the 
right  use  of  the  Lord's  Table,  which  before  they  had 
never  practised.  From  thence  he  departed  the  second 
time  to  the  Laird  of  Dun,  and  teaching  them  in  greater 
liberty,  the  gentlemen  required  that  he  should  minister 
likewise  unto  them  the  Table  of  the  Lord  Jesus ;  where- 
of were  partakers  the  most  part  of  the  gentlemen  of 
the  Mearns,  who  professed  that  they  refused  all  society 
with  idolatry  and  bound  themselves  to  the  uttermost 
of  their  power  to  maintain  the  true  preaching  of  the 
Evangel  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  God  should  offer  to  them 
preachers  and  opportunity."  Well  done,  ye  men  of 
the  Mearns,  and  ye  worthy  descendants  of  the  Lollards 
of  Kyle  !  Often  in  the  history  of  Scotland  have  the 
dwellers  in  these  parts  stood  up  manfully  for  the  truth, 
but  never  was  a  nobler  thing  done  in  either  locality, 
than  when  ye  thus  received  and  welcomed  the  apostle 
of  your  country's  Reformation  ! 

Such  labours  were  sure  sooner  or  later  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  bishops;  and  accordingly  while 
he   was  in   the  Mearns  he  was   summoned  to   appear 


100  JOHN  KNOX, 

before  them  at  Edinburgh,  in  the  Church  of  the  Black- 
friars,  on  the  15th  May,  1556.  They  probably  imagined 
that  this  mere  "show  of  force"  on  their  part  would 
suffice  to  frighten  him  into  silence.  If  they  did,  they 
reckoned  without  their  host ;  for  encouraged  by  his 
friends  he  came  to  Edinburgh  to  meet  and  face  his 
accusers.  But  when  it  came  to  the  pinch,  they  shrank 
from  the  encounter ;  and  so  it  was  that  on  the  very 
day  on  which  he  had  been  summoned  to  stand  before 
them,  he  preached,  of  all  places,  in  the  very  lodging 
of  the  Bishop  of  Dunkeld,  to  a  greater  audience  than  he 
had  hitherto  addressed  in  Edinburgh.  For  ten  days  he 
continued  morning  and  afternoon  at  this  work,  and  so 
thoroughly  was  his  heart  refreshed  by  it  that  he  writes 
of  it  thus  to  Mrs.  Bowes  :  "  O  sweet  were  the  death 
that  should  follow  such  forty  days  in  Edinburgh  as  here 
I  have  had  three." 

But  the  boldest,  if  we  should  not  call  it  the  most 
audacious  thing,  which  he  did  in  this  visit,  was  to 
address  a  letter  to  the  Queen  Regent,  wherein  he 
vindicated  himself  from  the  charges  made  by  his  enemies 
against  him,  and  exhorted  her  to  hear  the  word  of  God, 
and  regulate  her  government  by  its  principles.  The 
suggestion  to  send  such  an  epistle  came  from  the  Earl 
Mareschal  and  Henry  Drummond,  who  had  been  brought 
to  hear  him  by  Lord  Glencairn,  and  who  declared,  on 
what  they  said  they  knew  of  the  queen's  mind,  that  she 
was  in  a  mood  to  be  propitious.  But  though  the  letter 
is  correctly  described  by  Lorimer  as  one  "  which  for  its 


MINISTRY  AT  GENEVA.  101 

courtesy  of  phrase,  and  faithfulness  of  counsel,  was 
equally  suitable  to  her  dignity  as  a  queen,  and  to  his 
character  as  a  minister  of  God,"  it  met  with  only  a 
mocking  reception.  "  Please  you,  my  lord,  to  read  a 
pasquil,"  said  Mary  of  Guise,  after  it  had  been  put  into 
her  hands,  and  while  she  was  giving  it  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Glasgow,  and  that  was  all  the  notice  of  it 
which  she  condescended  to  take.  This  treatment  of  his 
expostulation  being  reported  to  Knox,  revealed  to  him 
how  little  he  had  to  expect  from  Mary  of  Guise  ;  and  as 
just  at  this  time  letters  arrived  from  Geneva  "  command- 
ing him,  in  God's  name,  as  he  that  was  their  chosen 
pastor,  to  repair  unto  them  for  their  comfort,"  he  made 
immediate  preparations  for  his  departure  thither.  He 
took  leave  of  the  several  congregations  to  whom  he  had 
preached,  and  sent  on  his  wife  and  his  mother-in-law 
to  Dieppe  before  him,  there  to  await  his  arrival.  He 
reached  them  in  the  month  of  July,  and  shortly  after 
went  with  them  to  Geneva ;  for  in  the  "  Livre  des 
Anglois  "  there  is  an  entry  to  the  effect  that  on  the  13  th 
of  September,    1556,    John   Knox;  Marjory,  his  wife; 

Elizabeth,  her   mother  ;    James    ,  his  servant ;  and 

Patrick,  his  pupil,  were  received  and  admitted  members 
of  the  English  Church  and  congregation  there. 

The  reception  of  Mrs.  Bowes  into  his  household, 
especially  with  his  knowledge  of  her  deep-seated  melan- 
cholia, says  much  for  the  kindliness  of  Knox's  heart; 
and  contrasts  strongly  with  the  spirit  manifested  on  a 
similar  matter  by  that  other  Scotsman  whose  correspon- 


102  JOHN  KNOX. 

dence  has  so  recently  been  given  to  the  world.  We 
know  not  if  the  cheap  sneer  indulged  in  by  so  many  at 
the  expense  of  the  mother-in-law  were  as  common  in  his 
days  as  it  is  in  ours,  but,  in  any  case,  Knox  in  all  this 
was  thoughtfully  tender,  and  though  he  admits  that  the 
desponding  habit  of  Mrs.  Bowes  was  often  a  great  trial 
to  him,  yet  he  never  withdrew  his  regard  from  her.  The 
following  sentences  of  Dr.  Laing  express  all  that  needs 
to  be  said  more  on  this  subject :  "  Her  husband,  I  pre- 
sume, was  a  bigoted  adherent  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
faith,  and  this  may  serve  as  the  key  both  to  his  opposi- 
tion to  Knox's  marriage  with  his  daughter,  and  to  the 
mother's  attachment  to  her  son-in-law.  It  cannot  at 
least  be  said  that  Knox  was  actuated  by  the  expectation 
of  wealth.  In  his  last  will  and  testament  he  states  that 
all  the  money  he  received  from  the  mother's  succession 
for  the  benefit  of  his  two  sons  was  one  hundred  marks 
sterling,  which  he,  '  out  of  his  poverty,'  had  increased  to 
five  hundred  pounds  Scots,  and  had  paid  through  Mr. 
Randolph  to  their  uncle,  Mr.  Robert  Bowes,  for  their  use. 
The  comparative  value  of  money  at  this  time  was  very 
variable  ;  but  we  may  reckon  (that)  the  hundred  marks, 
or  £66  i$s.  4^.,  were  increased  by  Knox  to  .£100 
sterling."  l 

After  Knox  left  Scotland  the  courage  of  the  bishops 

revived,  for  they  actually  summoned  him  again,  and  on 

his    failure   to   put   in  an    appearance   they   were   bold 

enough  to  burn  him  in  effigy  at  the  Cross  of  Edinburgh ! 

1  "Works,"  vol.  vi.  p.  lxvi. 


MINISTRY  AT  GENEVA.  103 

But  this  brutiim  fulmen  of  theirs  could  not  undo  the 
work  which  he  had  wrought.  For  by  his  labours  at  this 
time,  especially  in  exposing  the  evil  of  the  Protestants' 
any  longer  countenancing  papal  worship,  he  detached 
from  the  Romish  communion  the  nucleus  round  which 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  in  a  reformed  state,  was  ulti- 
mately to  form  itself.  Hitherto  there  had  been  no 
separate  organization  of  the  adherents  to  the  Protestant 
faith;  and  no  formal  observance  by  them  of  the  ordi- 
nance of  the  Supper.  But  now  they  had,  to  some  extent 
at  least,  committed  themselves  to  ultimate  separation 
from  the  Church  of  Rome.  As  Lorimer  says,  "  They 
were  now  a  "  Congregation "  or  community  of  Evan- 
gelical Christians,  as  much  bound  to  one  another  as  they 
were  dissevered  from  the  Church  of  the  popes."  And 
Knox's  leaving  of  them  in  that  condition  was  as  much 
for  their  good  as  his  arrival  among  them  some  months 
before  had  been.  Had  he  remained  longer  in  Scotland 
at  this  time,  his  presence  would  have  undoubtedly  pro- 
voked an  outburst  of  persecuting  fury  on  the  part  of  the 
bishops  and  their  friends;  while  as  it  was,  the  seed 
which  he  sowed  had  opportunity  to  root  itself  in  the 
hearts  of  those  who  had  received  it  at  his  hands ;  and 
this  it  would  assuredly  do  if  they  followed  the  directions 
which  he  had  left  behind  him.  For  before  his  departure 
he  drew  up  a  letter  of  wholesome  counsel  addressed  to 
his  brethren  in  Scotland,  in  which  he  exhorts  them  to 
give  themselves  to  the  daily  study  of  the  Bible  and 
worship  of  God  in  their  homes,  and  gives  them  direc- 


io4  JOHN  KNOX. 

tions  as  to  the  holding  and  conducting  of  assemblies 
for  public  worship  and  mutual  conference  and  prayer, 
recommending  them  to  observe  a  regular  course  in  their 
reading,  and  cautioning  those  who  should  speak,  to  do 
so  with  modesty,  avoiding  "multiplication  of  words, 
perplexed  interpretation,  and  wilfulness  in  reasoning." 
If  anything  occurred  in  the  text  which  they  could  not 
resolve  for  themselves,  he  advised  them  to  apply  for 
assistance  to  the  more  learned,  and  offered  if  they  should 
refer  it  to  him,  to  give  them  such  help  as  he  could 
render,  saying,  "  I  will  more  gladly  spend  fifteen  hours 
in  communicating  my  judgment  with  you,  in  explaining 
as  God  pleases  to  open  to  me  any  place  of  Scripture, 
than  half  an  hour  in  any  matter  beside." 

To  the  same  period  belong  his  "  Answers  to  some 
Questions  concerning  Baptism,"  etc.,  which  had  been 
proposed  to  him  by  some  inquirers,  and  which  are  of  a 
sort  that  have  often  troubled  young  converts  in  similar 
cases.  They  are,  whether  baptism  administered  by  the 
popish  priests  was  valid  and  did  not  require  repetition? 
Whether  the  decree  of  the  apostles  and  elders  at  Jeru- 
salem be  still  in  all  its  points  binding  on  believers? 
Whether  the  prohibition  in  2  John  10  extended  to  the 
common  salutation  of  those  who  taught  erroneous  doc- 
trine ?  How  the  directions  respecting  dress  in  1  Peter 
iii.  3  are  to  be  obeyed  ?  and  the  like.  And  with  them 
all  he  deals  in  a  spirit  of  wisdom  for  which  multitudes 
unacquainted  with  his  works  would  hardly  give  him 
credit.     We  need  not  enter  into  details  regarding  them; 


MINISTRY  AT  GENEVA.  105 

but  as  the  first  mentioned  of  the  above  subjects  was 
debated  a  few  years  ago  in  the  Assembly  of  the  Presby 
terian  Church  (North)  of  the  United  States,  it  may  not 
be  uninteresting  to  state  that,  while  Knox  declares 
unequivocally  that  it  would  be  wrong  for  Protestant 
believers  to  seek  baptism  for  their  children  from  popish 
priests,  he  yet  as  plainly  affirms  that  a  man  who  had 
been  baptized  in  infancy  in  papistry  ought  not  to  be 
rebaptized  when  he  cometh  to  knowledge,  because 
Christ's  institution  could  not  be  utterly  abolished  by 
the  malice  of  Satan  or  by  the  abuse  of  man. 

From  September,  1556,  to  September,  1557,  Knox 
laboured  in  Geneva,  delighting  in  his  work  and  rejoicing 
in  the  fellowship  of  congenial  friends.  Indeed,  these 
halcyon  months  seem  to  have  been  the  most  peaceful  of 
his  chequered  life,  and  we  do  not  wonder  that  he  wrote 
regarding  Geneva :  "  I  neither  fear  nor  shame  to  say, 
it  is  the  most  perfect  school  of  Christ  that  ever  was  in 
the  earth  since  the  days  of  the  apostles."  In  the  public 
services  of  the  Church  he  used  the  form  of  prayer 
which  had  been  drawn  up  by  himself  and  others  for  the 
English  congregation,  and  which  was  the  groundwork  of 
the  "  Book  of  Common  Order  "  that  was  received  by 
the  Church  of  Scotland  in  1565.  But  as  that  will  come 
up  for  description  in  its  proper  place,  we  need  not  dwell 
upon  it  here.  The  harmony  of  the  Geneva  Church  was 
sweet  after  the  controversies  of  Frankfort,  and  the  inter- 
course of  the  brethren  from  England,  who  were  then 
engaged  in  the  preparation  of  that  version  of  the  Scrip- 


io6  JOHN  KNOX. 

tures  which  continued  to  be  for  nearly  a  hundred  years 
the  favourite  Bible  of  the  Puritans,  must  have  been  a 
constant  joy. 

But  this  happiness  did  not  last  long ;  for  in  the  month 
of  May  (1557)  James  Syme  and  James  Barron,  two 
burgesses  of  Edinburgh,  and  his  own  very  devoted 
friends,  arrived  with  a  letter  from  Glencairn,  Lorn, 
Erskine,  and  Lord  James  Stuart,  beseeching'  "in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,"  that  he  would  return  to  his  native 
land ;  and  affirming  that  he  would  find  all  the  faithful 
whom  he  had  left  behind  him,  not  only  glad  to  hear  his 
doctrine,  but  also  ready  to  jeopardise  their  lives  and 
goods  for  the  setting  forward  of  the  glory  of  God.  The 
opinion  of  Calvin  and  other  friends  to  whom  he  sub- 
mitted this  request,  was  that  he  could  not  refuse  such 
a  call  "without  declaring  himself  rebellious  unto  God 
and  unmerciful  to  his  country " ;  and  no  doubt  his  own 
heart  had  already  given  a  similar  response.  Accordingly, 
after  making  all  due  arrangements  for  the  leaving  of  his 
charge,  and  for  the  care  of  his  family  in  his  absence, 
he  set  out  from  Geneva  in  the  end  of  September,  and 
arrived  at  Dieppe  on  the  24th  October.  He  was  met 
there,  however,  with  letters  which  gave  him  the  impres- 
sion that  those  who  had  invited  him  to  return  to  Scot- 
land had  repented  of  their  action  in  that  regard ;  and 
that  many  of  the  professed  adherents  of  the  truth  had 
drawn  back  and  became  faint-hearted  in  the  cause.  This 
brought  him  to  a  stand,  and  he  determined  to  go  no 
farther  until  his  way  should  be  more   clear.     He   im- 


M2NJSTRY  AT  GENEVA,  107 

mediately  wrote  to  his  correspondents,  explaining  how 
he  came  to  be  at  Dieppe,  upbraiding  them  for  their 
fear  and  fickleness ;  admonishing  them  of  the  great  im- 
portance of  the  enterprise  to  which  they  had  committed 
themselves;  and  alleging  that  they  ought  to  hazard 
their  lives  and  fortunes  to  deliver  themselves  and  their 
brethren  from  spiritual  bondage.  This  letter  is  dated 
October  27th,  1557,  and  was  followed  by  another  of  a 
more  general  tenour  to  his  brethren  in  Scotland,  which 
appears  to  have  been  written  in  the  same  place  on  the 
1  st  of  December. 

In  the  expectation  of  receiving  some  definite  infor- 
mation from  Scotland,  Knox  lingered  in  Dieppe  for 
some  considerable  time,  and  officiated  as  temporary 
preacher  to  a  Protestant  Church  which  had  recently 
been  formed  there.  But  when  no  answer  came  to  his 
appeal  to  his  countrymen,  he  set  his  face  again  toward 
Geneva,  to  which,  after  visiting  Lyons,  Rochelle,  and 
other  towns,  he  returned  in  the  spring  of  1558. 

But  though  he  had  heard  nothing  from  Scotland, 
matters  there  had  been  making  steady  progress.  There 
may  have  been  just  enough  of  wavering  on  the  part  of 
some  to  give  occasion  for  the  desponding  letters  which 
had  arrested  him  at  Dieppe,  yet  there  had  been  no 
great  reaction.  For  on  the  3rd  December,  perhaps 
after  the  receipt  of  Knox's  letter  of  the  preceding 
October,  there  had  been  a  conference  of  the  leading 
Protestants  as  to  what  was  best  to  be  done,  and  as  the 
result  a  Common  Bond  or  Band — the  earliest  of  those 


108  JOHN  KNOX. 

covenants  which  have  had  so  conspicuous  a  place  in 
.  the  church  history  of  Scotland — was  drawn  up  and 
subscribed  by  Argyle,  Glencairn,  Morton,  Lorn,  Erskine 
of  Dun,  and  many  others.  By  this  "engagement" 
they  pledged  themselves  in  the  most  solemn  manner 
"  to  strive  in  their  Master's  cause  even  unto  death;"  "to 
maintain,  set  forward,  and  establish  the  most  blessed 
word  of  God,  and  His  congregation  ; "  with  their  "  whole 
power,  substance,  and  their  very  lives ;  and  to  labour 
to  the  utmost  of  their  possibility,  to  have  faithful  min- 
isters purely  and  truly  to  preach  Christ's  gospel,  and 
minister  His  sacraments  to  His  people." 

This  was  brave  and  hopeful  in  the  highest  degree. 
But  Knox  knew  nothing  of  it  meanwhile,  and  in  his 
despondency  composed  and  issued  that  tract  which 
must  be  pronounced  the  greatest  mistake  of  his  life. 
We  refer,  of  course,  to  "  The  First  Blast  of  the  Trumpet 
against  the  monstrous  Regiment  (i.e.  government)  of 
Women,"  which  is  an  elaborate  argument  designed  to 
establish  the  proposition  that  "  to  promote  a  woman 
to  bear  rule,  superiority,  dominion,  or  empire,  above 
any  realm,  nation,  or  city,  is  repugnant  to  nature,  con- 
tumely to  God,  a  thing  most  contrarious  to  His  revealed 
will  and  approved  ordinance;  and  finally  it  is  the 
subversion  of  good  order,  of  all  equality  and  justice." 
We  have  already  seen  from  the  questions  which  he  put 
to  Bullinger,  that  he  had  been  pondering  this  subject 
for  some  time  ;  and  there  is  evidence  in  the  tract  itself, 
that  he  had  diligently  consulted  what  we  should  now 


MINISTRY  AT  GENEVA.  109 

call   "the  literature    of  the   subject,"   for  he  refers  to 
Aristotle's   politics  j  to   the   Books   of  the   Digests  ;  to 
such   Fathers  of  the  Church  as  Tertullian,    Augustine, 
Ambrose,  Chrysostom,  etc.     But  it  was  clearly  prompted 
by   the   fact    that    Mary   Tudor  was  on  the   throne  of 
England ;    and   there   is   throughout   a    strong    under- 
current  of  application  to  her   character   and   cruelties. 
Whatever  opinion  may  be  taken  on  the  main  question, 
however, — and  the   very  existence  of  the  Salic  law  in 
some  states  still  proves  that  there  are  two  sides  to  it, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that    Knox's   treatment   of   it 
at  all,  not  to  speak  of  the  sort  of  treatment  which  he 
gave  it,    was    at    this    time   impolitic  and    imprudent. 
In  his  preface  he  intimates  that  he  is  prepared  to  be 
condemned  by  multitudes,  and  even  for   being  accused 
by   some  of  high  treason ;  and  doubtless,    he   thought 
that  he  had  counted  the  cost  before  he  built  his  tower. 
But   the    publication    brought    such    a  storm  about  his 
head,  that  though  he  had   purposed  to  follow  his  first 
blast  with   a  second  and  a  third,  the  two  latter  were 
never     blown.      His    friend    and    colleague,     Christo- 
pher  Goodman,    put   himself  by   his    side   in   a    work 
entitled  "  How  Superior  Powers  ought  to  be  Obeyed  of 
their   Subjects ;"  and    at   a   later   day   John    Milton,  in 
quoting  from  Goodman,  and  referring  to  him  and  others, 
in  his  "  Tenure  of  Kings  and  Magistrates  "  says,  "  These 
were  the  pastors  of  those  saints  and  confessors,   who, 
flying  from   the   bloody   persecution   of   Queen   Mary, 
gathered   up   at   length   their    scattered   members    into 


no  JOHN  KNOX. 

many  congregations  .  .  .  These  were  the  true  Protestant 
divines  of  England,  our  fathers  in  the  faith  we  hold."1 
But  such  laudations  were  exceptional.  Foxe,  the  mar- 
tyrologist,  wrote  a  long  and  friendly  letter  to  Knox,  in 
which  he  expostulated  with  him  on  the  impropriety  of 
its  publication ;  and  even  his  friend  John  Calvin,  in  a 
letter  to  Cecil,  felt  compelled  to  deny  all  complicity 
with  its  production.  Mary  Tudor  did  not  live  long  to 
resent  it;  but  her  sister  Elizabeth  never  either  forgot 
or  forgave  it ;  and  it  prejudiced  the  mind  of  Mary 
Stuart  against  him  long  before  she  looked  upon  his  face. 
Not  many  months  after  its  publication  he  was  con- 
strained to  say  "  My  first  Blast  hath  blown  from  me  all 
my  friends  in  England,"  and  could  he  have  foreseen 
what  the  alliance  of  Elizabeth  was  ultimately  to  do  for 
Scotland  in  the  very  climax  of  her  Reformation  agony, 
we  may  safely  say  that  the  work  would  neither  have 
been  written  nor  published. 

But  his  excuse  (va/eat  quantum)  is  not  far  to  seek, 
and  we  cannot  do  better  than  give  it  in  the  words 
of  Carlyle.3  "  It  is  written  with  very  great  vehemency; 
the  excuse  for  which,  so  far  as  it  may  really  need  excuse, 
is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  it  was  written  while  the 
fires  of  Smithneld  were  still  blazing,  on  hest  of  bloody 
Mary,  and  not  long  after  Mary  of  Guise  had  been  raised 
to  the  Regency  of  Scotland — maleficent  crowned  women 
these  two — covering  poor  England  and  poor  Scotland 

1  "  Knox's  Works,"  by  Laing,  vol.  iv.  p.  359. 
8  Carlyle 's  Works,  vol.  xii.  p.  137. 


MINISTRY  AT  GENEVA.  in 

with  mere  ruin  and  horror,  in  Knox's  judgment,  and 
may  we  not  still  say  to  a  considerable  extent,  in  that 
of  all  candid  persons  ?  The  book  is  by  no  means 
without  merit ;  has  in  it  various  little  traits  uncon- 
sciously autobiographic,  and  others  which  are  illumin- 
ative and  interesting.  One  ought  to  add  withal,  that 
Knox  was  no  despiser  of  women,  far  the  reverse  in 
fact ;  his  behaviour  to  good  and  pious  women  is  full 
of  respect  ;  and  his  tenderness,  his  filial  helpfulness 
in  their  suffering  and  infirmities  (see  the  letters  to  his 
mother-in-law  and  others)  are  beautifully  conspicuous. 
For  the  rest  his  poor  book  testifies  to  many  high 
intellectual  qualities  in  Knox,  and  especially  to  far 
more  of  learning  than  has  ever  been  ascribed  to  him, 
or  is  anywhere  traceable  in  his  other  writings." 

To  this  time  also  belongs  his  treatise  on  Predestina- 
tion, in  answer  to  an  anonymous  writer  who  called  his 
work  "  The  Careless  of  Necessity."  It  is  the  most 
elaborate  of  all  the  Reformer's  productions,  and  goes 
into  the  Augustinian  controversy,  on  the  side  of  the 
great  ecclesiastical  father,  with  much  vigour  of  logic, 
great  clearness  of  language,  and  apt  and  extended  refer- 
ences to  Scripture.  Nowhere  else,  as  it  seems  to  us, 
does  Knox  indulge  in  such  closely  compacted  argument, 
or  write  in  such  a  nervous  style.  He  is  very  careful  to 
keep  himself  from  misrepresentation,  and  all  he  states 
may  be  accepted  as  true ;  but  there  is  another  side  to 
the  shield  to  which  he  rarely  refers,  and  which  must  be 
admitted  as  implicitly  as  that  to  which  he  has  restricted 


112  JOHN  KNOX. 

his  attention.  It  is  not,  of  course,  equal  to  the  great 
work  of  Mozley  on  the  same  subject;  but  they  who 
would  master  the  literature  of  the  controversy  cannot 
afford  to  overlook  this  valuable  contribution  to  its  docu- 
ments. 

Knox  continued  at  Geneva  until  the  month  of 
January,  1559,  when,  in  response  to  a  request  sent  to 
him  by  those  who  had  signed  the  "  Godly  Band,"  which 
was  backed  by  letters  of  a  more  recent  date,  informing 
him  of  the  state  of  things  in  Scotland,  he  left  his  wife  and 
family  behind  him  and  set  out  for  his  native  land. 
Mary,  the  English  queen,  had  now  gone  to  her  account, 
and  her  sister  Elizabeth  had  succeeded  to  the  throne,  so 
that  the  Protestant  refugees  on  the  continent  could  safely 
return  to  their  own  country,  and  it  was,  therefore,  no 
longer  necessary  for  him  to  retain  his  position  as  pastor. 
Before  the  breaking  up  of  the  congregation,  however,  its 
members  met  to  give  thanks  to  God,  and  agreed  to  send 
one  of  their  number  with  letters  to  their  brethren  in 
Frankfort  and  other  places,  congratulating  them  on  the 
happy  change  which  had  come  about  at  home,  and 
requesting  them  to  forget  all  past  unpleasantness,  while 
they  co-operated  as  brethren  to  procure  such  a  settle- 
ment of  religion  in  England  as  would  be  well-pleasing  to 
all  the  friends  of  the  Reformation.  Having  received 
favourable  replies  to  these  letters,  they  went  in  a  body  to 
the  council  of  the  city,  and  William  Whittingham,  in  their 
name,  expressed  to  the  seigneurie  the  gratitude  which 
they  felt  for  the  good  reception  given  to  them  during 


MINISTRY  AT  GENEVA.  113 

their  exile,  presenting  them  at  the  same  time  as  a  lasting 
memorial  of  their  names  the  "  Livre  des  Anglois,"  which 
is  still  preserved  among  the  archives  of  Geneva,  and  from 
which  we  have  quoted  an  interesting  entry.  They  then 
left  the  city  in  which  they  had  found  so  safe  an  asylum, 
and  Knox  sent  letters  with  them  to  some  of  his  former 
acquaintances  in  England,  desiring  that  they  would 
obtain  permission  for  him  to  travel  through  England  on 
his  way  to  Scotland.  Naturally  enough  he  wished  to  see 
some  of  those  among  whom  he  had  formerly  laboured ; 
but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  his  principal  motive  in 
asking  this  favour,  at  this  time,  was  that  he  might  dis- 
close to  Cecil  the  existence  of  a  plan  which  had  been 
formed  by  the  Princes  of  Lorraine,  with  which  somehow 
he  had  become  acquainted,  and  which  had  for  its 
objects  the  setting  up  of  the  claim  of  Mary  Stuart  to  the 
throne  of  England,  the  dethronement  of  Elizabeth  under 
pretence  that  she  was  a  bastard  and  a  heretic,  the  union 
of  England  and  Scotland  under  one  crown,  and  the 
suppression  of  the  Reformation  in  both  by  bringing  the 
whole  island  under  the  virtual  control  of  France.  But 
the  indignation  of  Elizabeth  at  his  "  First  Blast "  was 
such  that  his  request  was  indignantly  refused,  and  it  was 
with  difficulty  that  those  who  presented  his  letters 
escaped  imprisonment.  He  did  not  learn  this  result  of 
his  application  until  his  arrival  in  Dieppe ;  and  even 
then,  impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  information 
which  he  had  to  communicate,  he  himself  wrote  to  Cecil, 
seeking  to  remove  all  difficulties,  and  desiring  a  personal 

1 


H4  JOHN  KN9X. 

interview.  But  this  overture  met  with  no  better  success  ; 
and  so,  determined  to  wait  no  longer  for  that  which 
seemed  to  be  hopeless,  he  sailed  from  Dieppe  on  the 
22nd  of  April,  and  arrived  at  Leith  on  the  2nd  of  May, 
1559.  From  this  time  up  till  his  decease,  with  the 
exception  of  a  brief  visit  which  he  made  to  England, 
Scotland  was  the  sole  scene  of  his  labours ;  and  during 
these  thirteen  years  the  incidents  of  his  public  life 
became  part  and  parcel  of  the  history  of  his  country. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Return  to  Scotland,  1559. 

THE  landing  of  Knox  in  Scotland  was  almost 
dramatic  in  its  timeliness  ;  and  though  we  cannot 
here  undertake  to  rewrite  the  annals  of  the  period,  we 
must  as  briefly  as  possible  outline  the  situation.  The 
Queen  Regent,  who  had  so  far  succeeded  in  her  tem- 
porizing policy  as  even  at  one  time  to  have  secured  the 
commendation  of  Knox,  had  now  openly  declared  her- 
self as  the  enemy  of  the  Reformation ;  and,  at  that  very 
moment,  four  of  its  preachers  were  under  summons,  at 
her  instance,  to  stand  trial  before  the  justiciary  court  at 
Stirling  on  the  10th  of  May,  for  "administering  without 
the  consent  of  the  ordinaries  the  sacrament  of  the  altar 
in  a  manner  different  from  that  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
during  three  several  days  of  the  late  feast  of  Easter,  in 
the  burghs  and  boundaries  of  Dundee,  Montrose,  and 
various  other  places  in  the  sheriffdoms  of  Forfar  and 
Kincardine,  and  for  convening  the  subjects  in  these 
places,  preaching  to  them,  seducing  them  to  their  erron- 
eous doctrines,  and  exciting  seditions  and  tumults." 
How  things  had  come  to  this  crisis  it  is  not  hard  to  tell. 


Il6  JOHN  KNOX. 

At  the  consultation  at  which  the  "  Godly  Band  "  was 
adopted,  the  Reformers  agreed  besides  on  these  two 
things,  viz.  first,  that  prayers  and  the  lessons  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  should  be  read  in  English,  accord- 
ing to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  in  every  parish  on 
Sundays  and  festival  days  by  the  curates,  or,  if  they  re- 
fused, by  such  persons  within  the  bounds  as  were  best 
qualified;  and  second,  that  the  Reformed  preachers  should 
teach  in  private  houses  only,  until  the  government  should 
allow  them  to  do  so  in  public.  In  accordance  with  the 
latter  of  these  resolutions,  the  Protestant  noblemen  took 
preachers  as  private  chaplains  into  their  homes,  kept 
them  under  their  protection,  and  encouraged  them  in 
informal  and  domestic  meetings  to  expound  the  word  of 
God.  This  soon  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  bishops, 
and  the  primate,  presuming  on  his  influence  with  some 
of  Argyle's  friends,  wrote  to  that  earl,  expostulating  with 
him  for  having  John  Douglas  under  his  care.  Such 
interference  provoked  a  very  smart  and  stinging  retort; 
and  the  archbishop,  falling  back  on  the  old  tactics  of 
persecution,  thought  he  would  strike  terror  into  the 
hearts  of  the  Protestants  by  another  execution.  He 
found  a  victim  in  Walter  Mill,  a  venerable  old  man, 
who,  though  condemned  years  before  as  a  heretic  by 
Cardinal  Beaton,  had  escaped  the  stake  at  that  time, 
but  was  now  discovered  and  consigned  to  the  flames,  in 
the  midst  of  which  he  expired,  with  these  pathetic  and 
prophetic  words  upon  his  lips,  "  As  for  me,  I  am  four- 
score and  two  years  old,  and  cannot  live  long  by  the 


RETURN  TO  SCOTLAND.  117 

course  of  nature,  but  a  hundred  better  shall  arise  out  of 
the  ashes  of  my  bones.  I  trust  in  God  I  shall  be  the 
last  to  suffer  death  in  Scotland  in  this  cause."  This 
horrible  deed — done  on  the  28th  August,  1558 — thrilled 
the  people  into  earnestness  in  a  moment,  and  determined 
them  to  make  open  profession  of  their  adherence  to  the 
Reformed  worship,  so  that  their  ministers  were  embold- 
ened to  preach  and  administer  the  sacraments  in  public, 
even  without  the  permission  of  the  government,  for 
which  until  then  they  had  waited. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  month  of  July,  a  formal  petition 
had  been  presented  to  the  Regent  by  the  Protestant 
barons,  requesting  her  to  restrain  the  violence  of  the 
clergy,  and  asking  liberty  of  worship  according  to  a 
restricted  plan,  to  which  they  were  willing  to  conform 
until  their  grievances  should  be  examined  and  redressed. 
To  this  she  replied  after  her  usual  plausible  fashion,  in 
such  a  way  as  to  make  them  believe  that  she  was  friendly 
to  their  proposals.  But  the  hollowness  of  her  words  is 
apparent  from  the  fact  that  in  the  very  same  month  she 
was  in  consultation  with  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews, 
as  to  the  course  which  should  be  adopted  for  checking 
the  Reformation  ;  yet,  as  she  needed  the  help  of  the 
Protestants  at  the  meeting  of  the  Parliament  in  No- 
vember for  the  carrying  of  certain  measures  on  which 
her  heart  was  set,  nothing  was  done  openly  by  her 
against  them  until  after  that  date.  In  December,  how- 
ever, she  gave  the  primate  such  assurances  of  her 
support,  that  he  summoned  the  Reformed  preachers  to 


u8  JOHN  KNOX. 

appear  before  him  at  St.  Andrews  on  the  2nd  of  February 
following,  to  answer  the  charges  of  usurping  the  sacred 
office  and  of  disseminating  heresy.  This  proceeding  on 
his  part  stirred  up  the  Protestant  nobles,  so  that  they 
informed  the  Regent  that  if  the  trial  went  on  they  would 
be  present  to  see  justice  done,  and  she,  fearing  the  con- 
sequences, prevailed  upon  the  archbishop  to  prorogue 
the  trial.  At  the  same  time  she  summoned  a  convention 
of  the  nobility  to  meet  at  Edinburgh  on  the  7th  of 
March,  and  induced  the  archbishop  to  call  a  provincial 
council  of  the  clergy  to  meet  in  the  city  on  the  first  of 
the  same  month. 

When  the  clergy  met,  two  representations  were  laid 
before  them,  one  from  the  Protestants,  asking  what  they 
felt  to  be  needed,  and  another  from  persons  still  at- 
tached to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  praying  for  the  re- 
dress of  certain  grievances  in  ecclesiastical  administra- 
tion ;  but  both  were  treated  with  indifference.  A  secret 
treaty  had  been  entered  into  by  them  with  the  Queen 
Regent,  wherein  they  had  promised  to  raise  a  large  sum 
of  money  to  enable  her  to  put  down  all  heresy,  and  so 
in  the  most  uncompromising  confidence  they  confirmed 
all  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  Church,  and  de- 
clared that  both  the  preachers  who  administered  the 
sacraments  after  the  Reformed  manner,  and  those  who 
received  them  at  their  hands  should  be  excommuni- 
cated. 

This  action  of  theirs  convinced  the  Reformers  that 
nothing  was  to  be  hoped  for  from  the  clergy,  and  the 


RETURN   TO   SCOTLAND.  iIQ 

treaty  to  which  we  have  referred  having  somehow  come 
to  their  knowledge  revealed  to  them  that  they  had  just  as 
little  to  hope  for  from  the  court ;  so  they  broke  off  all  fur- 
ther negotiations  and  left  the  city.  But  they  had  scarcely 
gone  when  a  proclamation  was  made  at  the  Market 
Cross,  by  order  of  the  Regent,  prohibiting  any  person 
from  preaching  or  administering  the  sacraments  without 
authority  from  the  bishops ;  and  it  was  because  they  had 
disregarded  that  injunction  that  Paul  Methven,  John 
Christison,  William  Harlow,  and  John  Willock  were 
now  summoned  to  appear  at  Stirling  on  the  ioth  of 
May,  before  the  Court  of  Justiciary.  When,  therefore, 
Knox  arrived  at  Leith  on  the  2nd  of  that  month,  he 
could  truly  say  that  he  had  come  "  even  in  the  brunt 
of  the  battle."  Nor  was  he  dismayed  thereat.  Rather 
like  the  war-horse  of  the  sacred  poet,  he  said  among  the 
trumpets  Aha !  and  went  forth  rejoicing  in  his  strength 
to  mingle  in  the  fray. 

The  next  morning  the  announcement  of  his  arrival  to 
the  provincial  council  of  the  clergy  which  was  still  in 
session  in  Edinburgh  broke  up  that  assembly  in  haste, 
but  not  before  its  members  had  despatched  a  messenger 
with  the  news  to  the  Queen  Regent  who  was  then  at 
Glasgow,  and  who  a  few  days  later  proclaimed  Knox  as 
a  rebel  and  an  outlaw  in  virtue  of  the  sentence  formerly 
pronounced  against  him  in  his  absence  by  the  bishops. 
But  all  this  counted  for  little  with  him,  for  after  waiting 
only  a  few  hours  at  Edinburgh,  he  had  already  gone  to 
Dundee,  where  he  found  the  Protestants  of  Angus  and 


120  JOHN  KNOX. 

neighbourhood  gathered  in  great  numbers  and  deter- 
mined to  attend  their  ministers  to  Stirling.  Lest,  how- 
ever, they  should  do  harm,  when  they  only  intended  to 
do  good,  they  determined  to  halt  at  Perth,  from  which 
place  they  sent  forward  Erskine  of  Dun  to  inform  the 
Regent  at  Stirling  of  the  peaceable  object  of  their  ap- 
proach. As  usual,  when  she  heard  what  he  had  to  say, 
she  sought  to  gain  time  by  temporizing.  She  authorized 
him  to  promise  in  her  name  that  the  trial  should  not  go 
on,  and  prevailed  on  him  to  persuade  them  to  give  up 
their  purpose.  Accordingly  the  larger  number  of  them 
returned  to  their  homes.  But  when  the  day  appointed 
for  the  trial  came,  the  summons  was  called  by  the 
Regent's  orders,  the  ministers  were  outlawed  for  non- 
appearance, and  all  persons  were  prohibited,  under  pain 
of  being  treated  as  rebels,  from  harbouring  or  assisting 
them.  Erskine,  finding  that  he  had  been  grievously  be- 
fooled, escaped  from  Stirling  and  carried  the  news  to 
Perth,  where  on  the  day  of  his  arrival  Knox  preached  a 
sermon  in  which  he  denounced  the  idolatry  of  the  mass, 
and  on  which  consequences  followed  which  he  did  not 
at  the  moment  anticipate.  For  after  his  discourse  had 
been  concluded  a  priest  "  in  contempt "  uncovered  a 
rich  altar-piece  and  prepared  to  celebrate  mass,  where- 
upon a  youth  uttered  an  exclamation  of  indignation. 
This  provoked  the  priest  to  strike  him  "  a  great  blow," 
and  he  retaliated  "in  anger"  by  throwing  a  stone  at 
the  priest,  which  hit  the  altar  and  broke  one  of  the 
images.     This  was  the  spark  to  which  the  people  were 


RETURN  TO  SCOTLAND.  12 1 

as  tow,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  minutes  everything 
in  the  church  that  savoured  of  idolatry — altar,  imagts, 
ornaments  and  the  like— was  thrown  down  and  de- 
molished. The  report  of  this  outbreak  soon  gathered  a 
mob  described  by  Knox  as  "not  of  the  gentlemen, 
neither  of  them  that  were  earnest  professors,  but  of  the 
rascal  multitude,"  who  finding  nothing  more  to  be  done 
in  the  church  rushed  to  the  monasteries  of  the  Black 
and  Grey  Friars  and  to  the  Charterhouse  and  laid  them 
all  in  ruins. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  that  demolition  of  Roman 
Catholic  edifices  for  which  Knox  has  been  so  grievously 
assailed.  But,  without  entering  minutely  into  the  merits 
of  the  question,  and  cheerfully  admitting  that — owing 
to  human  imperfection — a  work  like  that  in  which  our 
Reformer  was  engaged  could  not  be  carried  through 
without  the  doing  of  some  things  of  which  men  in  less 
troublous  times  must  disapprove,  we  must  be  permitted 
to  advance  the  following  considerations.  First,  the  out- 
break at  Perth  was  in  a  manner  accidental,  and  was  not 
either  premeditated  or  instigated  by  Knox.  Second, 
when  the  work  of  purifying  the  churches  was  systemati- 
cally entered  upon,  special  instructions  were  given  to 
those  entrusted  with  it  to  guard  against  any  injury  to  the 
fabrics  themselves ;  for  in  a  document  enjoining  the 
purgation  of  the  Cathedral  of  Dunkeld  and  subscribed 
by  Argyle  and  Ruthven  on  the  12  th  August,  1560,  the 
parties  commissioned  are  thus  addressed  :  "  Fail  not  ye, 
but  that  ye   take  good   heed  that  neither  the  desks, 


122  JOHN  KNOX. 

windows,  nor  doors  be  anywise  burnt  or  broken,  either 
gTass-work  or  iron-work."  Third,  the  work  of  absolute 
destruction  was  reserved  for  the  monasteries.  Now  we 
can  clearly  see  the  reason  for  such  a  distinction.  The 
churches  were  the  property  of  the  people,  and  after 
being  cleansed  were  preserved  for  the  people's  use ;  but 
the  monasteries,  as  Burton  candidly  admits,  were  in  a 
manner  "  fortresses  of  the  enemy,"  and  as  such  were  de- 
molished. Yet  even  for  the  destruction  of  them  Knox 
and  his  brethren  are  not  solely  to  be  blamed  ;  for  as  the 
historian  just  named  has  said1  :  "In  the  history  of  the 
invasions  directed  by  King  Henry  and  Somerset  we 
have  seen  enough  to  account  for  large  items  in  the  ruin 
that  overcame  ecclesiastical  buildings  in  Scotland.  For 
Melrose,  Kelso,  Jedburgh,  and  the  many  other  build- 
ings torn  down  in  these  inroads,  the  Scots  Reformers 
have  no  censure  beyond  that  of  neutrality  or  passive- 
ness.  The  ruined  edifices  were  not  restored  as  they 
naturally  would  have  been  had  the  old  Church  remained 
predominant."  When  all  these  things  are  taken  into 
account,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  very  little  founda- 
tion for  the  common  outcry  against  Knox  in  this  matter. 
In  the  present  instance  the  demolition  of  the  mon- 
asteries by  the  mob  in  Perth  seriously  complicated  the 
situation,  and  gave  the  Regent  an  advantage  which  she 
was  not  slow  to  improve.  For  in  an  address  to  the 
nobility  in  Stirling,  she  so  employed  it  as  to  succeed  in 
getting  their  assistance  in  advancing  against  Perth,  with 
1  "  History  of  Scotland,"  vol.  iii.  p.  354. 


RETURN  TO  SCOTLAND.  123 

an  army,  for  the  purpose  of  putting  down  what  she 
chose  to  call  a  dangerous  rebellion.  The  Reformers 
wrote  to  her  disclaiming  all  such  intention ;  but  finding 
her  inflexible,  they  prepared  to  defend  themselves,  and 
were  assisted  by  the  opportune  arrival  of  Glencairn  from 
Ayrshire,  with  2,500  volunteers.  When  therefore  she 
reached  Perth  she  discovered  that  her  force  was  greatly 
outnumbered  by  theirs,  and  she  was  obliged  to  accept 
an  "  appointment,"  by  which  she  engaged  to  leave  the 
citizens  unmolested  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion,  and 
they  pledged  themselves  to  return  to  their  homes.  This 
agreement  she  violated  in  many  ways,  and  so  finally  lost 
the  confidence  and  support  of  Argyle  and  Lord  James 
Stuart,  both  of  whom  had  been  thus  far  politically  on 
her  side,  but  now  cast  in  their  lot  whole-heartedly  with 
the  congregation.  After  this  experience  the  leaders 
determined  to  take  a  step  in  advance  and  set  up  Pro- 
testant worship  in  those  places  where  their  own  personal 
influence  or  the  adherence  of  the  people  promised  suc- 
cess, and  it  was  resolved  to  begin  at  St.  Andrews.  They 
therefore  set  a  day  for  Knox  to  meet  them  in  that 
city,  where  he  arrived  on  the  9th  of  July.  When  the 
archbishop  learned  that  he  intended  to  preach  in  the 
cathedral  he  sent  a  message  to  his  friends  to  the  effect 
that,  "In  case  John  Knox  presented  himself  at  the 
preaching-place  in  his  town  and  principal  church,  he 
should  make  him  be  saluted  with  a  dozen  of  culverings, 
whereof  the  most  part  would  light  upon  his  nose."  This 
threat  somewhat  daunted  those  by  whom  he  was  accom- 


124  JOHN  KNOX. 

panied,  and  they  endeavoured  to  dissuade  him  from 
preaching ;  but  the  reply  of  the  Reformer  takes  its  place 
beside  Luther's  words  on  the  way  to  Worms,  for  he  said, 
"  As  for  the  fear  of  danger  that  may  come  to  me  let  no 
man  be  solicitous,  for  my  life  is  in  the  custody  of  Him 
whose  glory  I  seek,  and  therefore  I  cannot  so  fear  their 
boast  or  tyranny  that  I  will  cease  from  doing  my  duty, 
when  of  His  mercy  He  offereth  me  the  occasion.  I 
desire  the  hand  or  weapon  of  no  man  to  defend  me.  I 
only  crave  audience,  which  if  it  be  denied  me  here  I 
must  seek  further  where  I  may  have  it."  There  was  no 
resisting  such  a  determination,  and  the  result  justified 
his  courage,  for  remembering  doubtless  his  own  words 
years  before,  while  a  slave  in  the  French  galley,  he 
preached  on  the  Sunday,  nor  on  that  day  alone,  but 
also  on  the  four  next  following,  without  seeing  anything 
either  of  the  archbishop  or  his  culverings ;  and  such  was 
the  effect  of  his  discourses  that  the  provost,  magistrates, 
and  inhabitants  agreed  to  set  up  the  Reformed  worship 
forthwith,  and  proceeded  at  once  to  strip  the  church  of 
its  images  and  to  pull  down  the  monasteries. 

The  report  of  all  this  taken  to  the  Queen  Regent 
in  the  palace  of  Falkland  by  the  archbishop,  led  to  the 
affair  of  Cupar  Muir,  which  Carlyle  has  thus  described 
after  his  own  manner  :  "  Not  itself  a  fight,  but  the  pro- 
logue or  foreshadow  of  all  the  fighting  that  followed. 
The  Queen  Regent  and  her  Frenchmen  had  marched 
in  triumphant  humour  out  of  Falkland,  with  their  artillery 
ahead,   soon    after    midnight,   trusting    to    find   at    St« 


RETURN  TO  SCOTLAND.  125 

Andrews  the  two  chief  lords  of  the  congregation,  the 
Earl  of  Argyle  and  Lord  James  Stuart  (afterwards  Regent 
Murray),  with  scarcely  a  hundred  men  about  them, — 
found  suddenly  that  the  hundred  men,  by  good  industry 
over-night,  had  risen  to  an  army ;  and  that  the  con- 
gregation itself,  under  these  two  lords,  was  here,  as  if 
by  tryst,  at  mid-distance,  skilfully  posted,  and  ready  for 
battle  either  in  the  way  of  cannon  or  of  spear.  Sudden 
halt  of  the  triumphant  Falklanders  in  consequence  ;  and 
after  that  a  multifarious  manoeuvring,  circling,  and 
wheeling,  now  in  clear  light,  now  hidden  in  clouds  of 
mist;  Scots  standing  steadfast  on  their  ground,  and 
answering  message-trumpets  in  an  inflexible  manner,  till, 
after  many  hours,  the  thing  had  to  end  in  an  '  appoint- 
ment,' truce,  or  offer  of  peace,  and  a  retreat  to  Falkland 
of  the  Queen  Regent  and  her  Frenchmen,  as  from  an 
enterprise  unexpectedly  impossible."  x 

From  this  place  Knox  accompanied  the  forces  of  the 
congregation  to  Perth,  and  thence  to  Edinburgh,  where 
on  the  7th  of  July  the  Protestants  of  the  city  chose 
him  to  be  their  minister,  and  then  for  the  first  time  his 
voice  sounded  through  the  cathedral  of  St.  Giles  in 
ringing  notes  of  trumpet  power.  But  soon  after  the 
lords  of  the  congregation,  having  been  compelled  to  con- 
clude a  treaty  with  the  Regent,  by  the  terms  of  which 
they  agreed  to  quit  Edinburgh  and  deliver  it  up  to  her, 
judged  it  unsafe  that  he,  being  so   obnoxious  to  her, 

1  "An  Essay  on  the  Portraits  of  John  Knox,"  pp.  139-140. 
"  Works,"  vol.  am. 


126  JOHN  KNOX. 

should  remain  there  without  their  protection,  and  so, 
putting  the  less  objectionable  John  Willock  for  the  time 
into  his  place,  they  set  him  free  for  a  preaching  excursion 
through  different  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

How  he  wrought  on  that  occasion,  and  where,  he  has 
himself  described  in  one  of  his  letters  thus  :  "  I  have 
been  in  continual  travel  since  the  day  of  appointment 
{i.e.  the  treaty  with  the  Regent),  and  notwithstanding 
the  fevers  have  vexed  me  the  space  of  a  month,  yet  have 
I  travelled  through  the  most  part  of  this  realm,  where  all 
praise  be  to  his  blessed  Majesty,  men  of  all  sorts  and 
conditions  embrace  the  truth.  Enemies  we  have  many, 
by  reason  of  the  Frenchmen  who  are  lately  arrived,  of 
whom  all  parties  hope  golden  hills  and  such  support  as 
we  are  not  able  to  resist.  We  do  nothing  but  go  about 
Jericho,  blowing  with  trumpets  as  God  giveth  strength, 
hoping  victory  by  His  laws  alone.  Christ  Jesus  is 
preached  even  in  Edinburgh,  and  His  blessed  sacra- 
ments rightly  ministered  in  all  congregations  where  the 
ministry  is  established  ;  and  they  be  these,  Edinburgh, 
St.  Andrews,  Dundee,  Perth,  Brechin,  Montrose,  Stirling, 
and  Ayr.  And  now  Christ  Jesus  is  begun  to  be  preached 
upon  the  south  borders  in  Jedburgh  and  Kelso,  so  that 
the  trumpet  soundeth  over  all,  blessed  be  our  God." 

This  was  written  on  the  2nd  September,  1559,  and  on 
the  20th,  his  wife,  having  obtained  through  the  influence 
of  Throckmorton,  the  English  ambassador  at  Paris,  that 
permission  to  pass  through  England  which  had  been 
denied  to  her  husband,  reached  Scotland  in  safety.    Her 


RETURN  TO  SCOTLAND.  127 

mother  came  with  her  as  far  as  Northumberland,  and 
after  remaining  a  short  time  with  her  friends  there,  took 
up  her  abode  in  Knox's  household,  and  continued  a 
member  of  his  family,  at  least  till  the  death  of  her 
daughter,  though  some  believe  that  even  after  that  she 
remained  with  him,  with  but  a  brief  interval,  till  her  own 
decease.  Mrs.  Knox  was  accompanied  by  Christopher 
Goodman,  who  had  been  the  colleague  of  her  husband 
in  Geneva,  and  who  continued  to  labour  in  Scotland, 
first  at  Ayr  and  afterwards  at  St.  Andrews,  until  his 
return  to  England  in  1565. 

But  the  work  in  Scotland  was  too  great  to  be  suc- 
cessfully carried  out  by  its  own  people,  even  if  they  had 
been  united  among  themselves,  which,  unhappily,  they 
were  not.  The  Reformers  there  had  to  contend  not  only 
with  the  adherents  of  the  papacy  in  their  own  land,  but 
also  with  the  power  and  diplomacy  of  France,  and  there- 
fore it  was  of  the  utmost  consequence  that  assistance 
from  England  should  be  secured.  It  was,  fortunately, 
also  quite  important  for  England  that  France  should  be 
prevented  from  securing  a  permanent  hold  on  Scotland ; 
but  it  was  some  time  before  the  English  queen  could  be 
induced  to  commit  herself  in  any  way  to  the  cause  of 
the  Scottish  congregation ;  and  many  negotiations  were 
required  before  that  result  was  obtained.  Neither  into 
the  details  of  these,  nor  into  the  particulars*  of  the  civil 
war,  which  lasted  at  this  time  in  Scotland  for  about  a 
year,  can  we  enter  here.  They  will  be  found  at  length 
in  the  pages  of  the  historians ;  and  it  may  suffice  in  this 


128  JOHN  KNOX, 

place  to  say  that  at  last,  as  the  fruit  of  the  mission  of  the 
younger  Maitland  to  the  English  Court,  Elizabeth  con- 
sented to  send  a  fleet  into  the  Firth  of  Forth,  and  an 
army  across  the  border  ;  and  that  the  ultimate  issue  was 
a  treaty  entered  upon  during  the  siege  of  Leith,  on  the 
7th  July,  1560,  which  secured  that  the  French  troops 
should  be  immediately  removed  from  Scotland ;  that  an 
amnesty  should  be  granted  to  all  who  had  been  engaged 
in  the  late  resistance  to  the  Queen  Regent ;  that  the 
principal  grievances  in  the  civil  administration  should  be 
redressed ;  and  that  a  Free  Parliament  should  be  held 
to  settle  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom. 

Before  this  turn  was  given  to  matters,  and  at  midnight 
between  the  10th  and  nth  of  June,  the  Queen  Regent, 
Mary  of  Lorraine,  the  mother  of  the  Queen  of  Scots,  had 
passed  away  from  the  earth,  and  thus  the  stage  was  as 
it  were  cleared  for  the  important  things  which  were  so 
soon  to  be  achieved.  The  one  Mary  had  gone  to  her 
account ;  the  other  had  not  yet  come  from  France  to 
take  personal  possession  of  the  throne  of  her  native  land, 
and  in  the  interval  many  things  otherwise — humanly 
speaking  at  least — unattainable  were  obtained.  "  The 
stars  in  their  courses  "  were  fighting  for  the  Reforma- 
tion ;  the  providence  of  God  was  on  its  side,  and  blind 
indeed  must  the  historian  be  who  sees  no  indication  of 
that  fact.  But  because  we  fully  recognise  His  hand,  it 
is  the  more  important  that  we  distinctly  note  also  the 
obliquities  which  characterized  the  conduct  of  many  of 
the  human  actors  in  these  transactions ;  and  it  is  with  a 


RETURN  TO  SCOTLAND.  129 

sense  of  something  like  mortification  that  we  confess 
that  even  Knox  did  not  stand  the  ordeal  without  dete- 
rioration. He  was,  as  Laing  remarks,  "  a  chief  instigator 
and  agent "  in  the  negotiations  with  England ;  and,  for 
the  most  part,  he  manifested  the  strictest  integrity.  But 
there  is  one  letter  extant  which  prevents  us  from  being 
able  to  say  that  he  never  lent  his  countenance  to  deceit. 
He  is  writing  to  Sir  James  Croft  requesting  that  men 
should  be  sent  by  him  to  the  help  of  the  Reformers ; 
and  in  answer  to  the  objection  that  the  league  between 
England  and  France  made  it  impossible  to  do  that  with- 
out offending  France,  he  says,1  "  If  ye  list  to  craft  with 
them,  the  sending  of  a  thousand  men  to  us  can  break  no 
league  nor  point  of  peace  contracted  between  you  and 
France ;  for  it  is  free  for  your  subjects  to  serve  in  war 
any  prince  or  nation  for  their  wages ;  and  if  you  fear  that 
such  excuses  shall  not  prevail,  you  may  declare  them 
rebels  to  your  realm,  when  ye  shall  be  assured  that  they 
are  in  our  company."  We  mention  it  that  we  may  not 
be  accused  of  concealing  any  portion  of  the  truth  con- 
cerning him.  We  do  not  extenuate  it ;  we  cannot  vin- 
dicate it.  We  say  only  that  it  is,  so  far  as  we  know,  the 
solitary  instance  of  the  kind  in  the  extensive  correspond- 
ence of  our  Reformer;  that  it  is  a  clear  exception  to 
the  general  outspoken,  and  in  some  cases  even  indis- 
creet, frankness  by  which  he  was  characterized ;  and 
that,  perhaps,  he  caught  the  infection  from  those  with 
whom  he  was  treating,  for  Froude  says  of  Elizabeth  at 
1  "Works,"  vol.  vi.  p.  90. 


130  JOHN  KNOX. 

this  time,  "  It  is  certain  only  that  on  the  one  hand  she  was 
distinctly  doing,  what  as  distinctly  she  said  she  was  not 
doing  j  and  on  the  other,  that  she  was  holding  out  hopes 
which,  if  she  could  help  it,  she  never  meant  to  fulfil ;  "  1 
and  even  Cecil,  as  the  same  author  proves,  was  a  master 
in  the  same  kind  of  craft,  so  that  his  indignant  reference 
to  Knox's  proposal  reads  to  us  now  like  an  illustration 
of  "  Satan  reproving  sin."  It  was  in  truth,  as  Laing  has 
said,  "  an  age  of  dissimulation ; "  but  Knox  knew  better ; 
he  was  before  his  age  in  other  things,  and  should  have 
been  above  it  in  this. 

But  enough,  we  gladly  turn  from  censure  to  praise, 
and  wish  to  direct  attention  at  this  point  to  Knox's 
views  concerning  civil  government.  There  was  an 
assembly  of  nobles,  barons,  and  representatives  of  burghs 
held  at  Edinburgh  on  the  21st  of  October,  1559,  at 
which  the  propriety  or  lawfulness  of  depriving  the  Queen 
Regent  of  her  authority  (which  was  afterwards  resolved 
upon)  was  debated  ;  and  before  which  John  Willock  and 
Knox  were  asked  to  give  their  opinion  on  the  question. 
Willock  alleged  that  the  power  of  rulers  is  limited,  that 
they  might  be  deprived  of  it  on  valid  grounds  ;  and  that 
the  fortification  of  Leith,  and  the  introduction  of  foreign 
troops  into  the  kingdom,  was  a  good  reason  why  the 
Regent  should  be  divested  of  her  authority.  Knox, 
while  agreeing  with  what  he  had  said,  added  that  the 
assembly  might  safely  proceed  on  these  principles, 
provided  only  that  they  did  not  suffer  the  misconduct  of 
1  Froude's  "  History  of  England,"  vol.  vi.  p.  273. 


RETURN  TO  SCOTLAND.  131 

the  Regent  to  alienate  them  from  their  allegiance  to 
their  own  proper  sovereigns,  Francis  and  Mary;  that 
they  were  not  actuated  by  any  private  hatred  of  the 
Regent  herself;  and  that  any  sentence  which  they 
should  now  pronounce  should  not  preclude  her  re- 
admission  to  office  if  she  afterwards  acknowledged  her 
error,  and  agreed  to  submit  to  the  estates  of  the  realm. 
These  sentiments,  considering  the  circumstances  in 
which  the  Reformers  were  then  placed,  were  moderate 
and  wise.  They  show  how  very  far  from  revolutionary 
Knox  and  his  associates  were  ;  and  it  is  no  small  praise 
to  him  to  say  that  in  a  struggle  which  strained  every- 
thing to  the  utmost,  he  sought  to  maintain  law  while 
striving  after  liberty,  and  was  careful  to  discriminate 
between  condemnation  of  the  manner  in  which  an  office 
was  filled,  and  repudiation  of  the  office  itself.  The 
relation  of  the  Reformation  from  popery  to  civil  liberty 
is  a  theme  which  might  furnish  materials  for  a  goodly 
volume,  and  space  will  not  allow  us  to  enlarge  upon  it 
here ;  but  it  might  be  well  in  these  days  if  more  attention 
were  directed  to  the  opinions  of  the  Reformers  regard- 
ing political  government,  and  the  share  which  these  have 
had  in  laying  the  foundation  of  freedom,  as  it  is  now 
enjoyed  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  So  far 
as  Knox  is  concerned,  we  could  have  no  better  summary 
of  his  views  on  the  subject  than  that  which  is  given  by 
his  great  biographer,  from  which  we  quote  the  following 
sentence,1  each  clause  of  which  is  amply  confirmed  by 
1  McCrie's  "  Works,"  vol.  1.  p.  149. 


132  JOHN  KNOX. 

McCrie  in  the  learned  and  elaborate  note  which  he  has 
appended  to  his  statement : — "  He  held  that  rulers, 
supreme  as  well  as  subordinate,  were  invested  with 
authority  for  the  public  good ;  that  obedience  was  not 
due  to  them  in  anything  contrary  to  the  Divine  law, 
natural  or  revealed ;  that  in  every  free  and  well-con- 
stituted government,  the  law  of  the  land  was  superior  to 
the  will  of  the  prince ;  that  inferior  magistrates  and 
subjects  might  restrain  the  supreme  magistrate  from 
particular  illegal  acts,  without  throwing  off  their  allegi- 
ance, or  being  guilty  of  rebellion  ;(  that  no  class  of  men 
have  an  original,  inherent,  and  indefeasible  right  to  rule 
over  a  people,  independently  of  their  will  and  consent; 
that  every  nation  is  entitled  to  provide  and  require  that 
they  shall  be  ruled  by  laws  which  are  agreeable  to  the 
Divine  law,  and  calculated  to  promote  their  welfare  ; 
that  there  is  a  mutual  compact,  tacit  and  implied,  if  not 
formal  and  explicit,  between  rulers  and  their  subjects ; 
and  if  the  former  shall  flagrantly  violate  this,  employ  that 
power  for  the  destruction  of  the  commonwealth  which 
was  committed  to  them  for  its  preservation  and  benefit, 
or,  in  one  word,  if  they  shall  become  habitual  tyrants 
and  notorious  oppressors,  that  the  people  are  absolved 
from  allegiance,  and  have  a  right  to  resist  them,  formally 
to  depose  them  from  their  place,  and  to  elect  others  in 
their  room."  It  may  surprise  some  of  our  readers  to 
discover  how  fully  Knox  in  these  particulars  was  abreast 
of  many  of  the  views  of  the  most  enlightened  Liberals 
of  our  generation;  but  even  Major,  the  principal  of  the 


RETURN  TO  SCOTLAND.  133 

Glasgow  University  when  Knox  became  a  student,  had 
struck  out  in  the  same  direction,  and  in  one  of  his  works  x 
has  declared  that  "  a  free  people  first  gives  strength  to  a 
king,  whose  power  depends  on  the  whole  people ; "  and 
that  "  a  people  can  discard  or  depose  a  king  and  his 
children  for  misconduct  just  as  it  appointed  him  at 
first ; "  and  similar  sentiments  might  be  cited  from  the 
pages  of  Buchanan.  Major  taught  them  in  the  class, 
and  Buchanan  wrote  them  in  his  works ;  but  Knox  gave 
them  utterance,  and  that  too  with  such  force,  that  they 
were  widely  diffused  among  the  people,  so  that  in  due 
season  the  divine-right  nonsense  of  the  Stuarts  was 
exploded,  and  the  beginning  of  a  new  order  of  things 
introduced. 

But  even  in  this  matter,  advanced  as  he  was,  Knox 
was  not  entirely  above  the  narrowness  of  his  age.  In 
common  with  all  the  Reformers,  and  the  most  of  the 
Puritans,  he  held  that  the  theocracy  of  the  Jews  was  the 
ideal  state,  and  as  a  consequence,  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  the  civil  government  to  punish  idolatry  with  death, 
to  set  up  and  maintain  the  true  religion  by  all  the  means 
at  its  disposal,  and  to  put  down  heresy  as  rebellion. 


1  "  De  Historia  Gentis  Scotorum,"  book  iv.  chap.  22.  I  am 
indebted  for  these  citations  to  my  late  friend,  Dr.  J.  M.  Ross, 
whose  researches  into  the  literature  of  Scotland  have  been  recently 
published,  and  whose  early  death  is  mourned  by  all  who  knew  his 
worth.  His  work  on  the  Pre-reformation  Literature  of  Scotland  is 
a  perfect  thesaurus  of  precious  things,  and  has  attracted  the  widest 
attention. 


134  JOHN  KNOX. 

Neither  the  statesmen  nor  the  divines  of  that  age  seem 
to  have  perceived  that  the  true  analogue  to  the  Jewish 
theocracy  is  the  spiritual  Church  of  Christ,  and  so  we 
account  for  the  fact  that  they  continually  referred  to  the 
Old  Testament  as  their  warrant  for  seeking  to  advance 
what  they  believed  to  be  the  truth,  and  to  put  down 
what  they  considered  to  be  error  by  force.  They  did 
not  remember  that  in  the  Jewish  state  God  was  in  no 
mere  figurative  sense,  but  really  and  absolutely  the  King, 
so  that  in  it  to  fear  God  and  to  honour  the  king  was 
virtually  the  same  thing,  and  sin  in  every  form  was  also 
ipso  facto  crime,  was  indeed  treason,  as  committed 
against  the  head  of  the  government,  and  so  was  punish- 
able by  civil  pains  and  penalties.  Forgetting  or  not 
perceiving  that,  the  Reformers  took  the  Jewish  for  the 
model  constitution.  In  all  the  states  which  they  sought 
to  remodel,  they  lost  sight  of  the  distinction  between  a 
theocracy  and  an  ordinary  government,  and  confounded 
crime  with  sin,  and  sin  with  crime.  More  especially 
they  made  the  crime  of  crimes  to  be,  the  resisting  or  not 
conforming  to  what  they  themselves  believed  to  be  the 
true  religion  as  revealed  by  God,  and  as  such  they 
punished  that  with  all  severity.  There  is  no  instance 
indeed  on  record  of  Knox  himself  being  in  any  way 
mixed  up  with  persecution,  understanding  by  that  word 
merely  the  putting  of  one  to  death  for  religious  practices 
or  opinions.  No  such  controversy  can  be  raised  over 
him  as  that  which  has  been  held  regarding  Calvin  and 
the  prosecution  of  Servetus.     But  they  all  alike  held 


RETURN  TO  SCOTLAND.  135 

that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  government  to  establish  and 
maintain,  as   a  government,  and  that  means  by  enact- 
ments enforced  by  penalties,  the  true  religion ;  and  from 
that  persecution  follows ;  rather  let  us  say,  in  that  per- 
secution is  involved.     To  this  error,  which,  however,  was 
the  common  opinion  of  their  times,  may  be  traced  most 
of  the  difficulties   in   which   they  were  involved  in  the 
prosecution  of  their  work.     The  world  has  been  slow  to 
come  to  it,fbut  no  perfect  liberty  either  in  Church  or  in/ 
state  is  possible  save  through  the  separation  of  the  one  I 
from  the  other,  and  the  restriction  of  each  to  its  own 
proper  domain,  f  When  this  shall  be  attained  in  Scotland' 
and  England,  then  shall  be  the  beginning  of  another 
era,  as  strongly  marked  as  that  which  began  in  the  over- 
throw of  the  Papal  Church  three  hundred  years  ago. 
The  course  of  our  narrative  takes   us  now  into  parlia- 
mentary debates,  and  royal  closets,  fully  as  often  as  into 
assemblies  of  the  Church,  and  therefore  before  we  enter 
upon  this  section  of  the  history,  we  deem  it  right  to 
indicate  once  for  all  the  views  which  we  ourselves  hold 
upon  the  subject.     It  is  the  province  of  the  biographer 
to  narrate,  and  he  must  not  be  held  as  endorsing  every- 
thing which  he  records. 


CHAPTER  X. 
The  Reconstruction  of  the  Scottish  Church,  1560. 

THE  meeting  of  Parliament,  provided  for  in  the 
Treaty  of  Leith,  was  opened  with  great  ceremony 
on  the  1  st  of  August,  1560,  and  was  attended  by  an 
unusually  large  number  of  members.  Knox  "  improved  " 
the  occasion  by  preaching  from  the  cathedral  pulpit  a 
series  of  expository  sermons  on  the  prophecies  of 
Haggai,  with  special  application  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  country  at  the  time.  On  his  own  showing  he  was 
"  vehement,"  and  as  he  inveighed  strongly  against  those 
who  had  been  enriched  with  the  revenues  of  the  Church, 
his  words  gave  great  offence  to  many.  Maitland  sneer- 
ingly  said,  "  What !  we  must  now  forget  ourselves  and 
bear  the  barrow  to  build  the  house  of  God, ;'— words 
which  already  showed  that  spirit  of  insincerity  which 
afterwards  took  him  into  the  opposite  camp.  The  great 
matter  before  this  Parliament,  after  it  had  approved  the 
articles  of  the  treaty,  was  the  settlement  of  religion,  and 
as  a  preliminary  to  that  the  ministers  were  requested  to 
draw  up  a  summary  statement  of  "  that  doctrine  which 
they  would  maintain  as  wholesome  and  true,  and  only 

136 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  CHURCH    137 

necessary  to  be  believed."  This  work  was  done  by  them 
in  four  days,  at  the  end  of  which  they  produced  the 
Confession  which  Knox  has  given  at  full  length  in  his 
history.  It  is  all  but  certain  that  he  had  a  considerable 
hand  in  its  preparation,  and  it  has  been  described  by  the 
younger  McCrie  as  "  remarkably  free  from  metaphysical 
distinctions  and  minutiae,"  and  as  "  running  in  an  easy 
style,  and  in  fact  reading  like  a  good  sermon  in  old 
Scotch."  It  is,  of  course,  Calvinistic,  but  in  the  article 
on  election,  there  is  nothing  of  either  reprobation  or 
pretention.  In  that  on  the  Lord's  Supper  it  repudiates 
alike  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  and  that  of  those 
who  believe  it  to  be  "  nothing  else  but  a  naked  and  bare 
sign,"  insisting  on  some  mystical  influence  as  connected 
with  it,  but  yet  confessing  that  such  influence  is  given 
"  neither  at  that  only  time,  nor  yet  by  the  proper  power 
of  the  sacraments  only,"  so  that  it  is  exceedingly  difficult 
to  get  from  it  a  definite  statement  of  what  precisely  the 
"grace"  in  the  sacrament  is ;  but  that  difficulty  is  felt,  in 
our  judgment,  as  seriously  by  those  who  desire  to  reduce 
to  plain  language  the  words  of  the  Westminster  standards 
on  the  same  subject.  In  the  section  which  treats  of  the 
authority  of  Scripture,  there  is  no  attempt  to  formulate 
any  theory  of  inspiration,  but  simply  a  declaration  that 
"in  those  books  which  of  the  ancients  have  been  re- 
puted canonical,  all  things  necessary  to  be  believed  for 
the  salvation  of  mankind  are  sufficiently  expressed,"  and 
an  affirmation  that  "  such  as  allege  the  Scriptures  to 
have  no  other  authority,  but  that  which  is  received  from 


138  JOHN  KNOX. 

the  Kirk  (Church)  are  blasphemous  against  God,  and 
injurious  to  the  true  Kirk,  which  always  heareth  and 
obeyeth  the  voice  of  her  own  spouse  and  pastor,  and 
taketh  not  on  her  to  be  mistress  of  the  same."  On  the 
subject  of  the  civil  magistrate  its  words  run  thus  :  "  That 
to  kings,  princes,  rulers,  and  magistrates,  we  affirm  that 
chiefly  and  most  principally  the  reformation  and  purga- 
tion of  the  religion  appertains  ;  so  that  not  only  they  are 
appointed  for  civil  policy,  but  also  for  maintenance  of 
the  true  religion,  and  for  suppressing  of  idolatry  and 
superstition,  as  in  David,  Jehoshaphat,  Hezekiah,  Josiah, 
and  others  highly  commended  for  their  zeal,  in  that  case 
may  be  espied,"  a  statement  which  amply  confirms  what 
we  have  just  said  regarding  the  position  taken  by  the 
Reformers  on  this  matter.  We  ought  to  add,  however, 
that  according  to  Randolph,  the  representative  of  the 
English  Court,  who  was  present  on  the  occasion  of  the 
ratification  of  the  Confession,  the  section  on  the  civil 
magistrate  had  been  expunged  by  Maitland,  to  whose 
revision,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Lord  James  Stuart, 
it  had  been  submitted,  and  by  whom  certain  strong 
phrases  in  other  parts  of  the  document  had  been 
softened.  In  Knox's  history  we  have  no  word  of  any- 
thing like  that,  but  simply  the  Confession  as  it  was 
actually  ratified,  and  in  that  a  paragraph  on  the  civil 
magistrate  stands  with  the  rest.  But  as  there  is  in  that 
paragraph  a  good  deal  about  the  prerogatives  of  rulers, 
and  the  duty  of  obedience  to  them,  while  there  is  no 
word  of  the  limits  of  allegiance  to  them,  and  the  right  of 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  CHURCH    139 

resisting  them  when  they  violate  either  the  laws  of  the 
realm  or  the  dictates  of  conscience,  on  both  of  which 
points  we  know  that  Knox  and  his  brethren  held  strong 
convictions,  it  is  probable  that  at  first  the  article  con- 
tained some  things  on  these  aspects  of  the  question, 
which  were  afterwards  stricken  out,  by  the  two  men 
whom  we  have  named,  as  being  likely  if  retained  to  im- 
peril the  acceptance  of  the  document  as  a  whole.  This 
is  only  a  conjecture  of  our  own,  but  it  is  not  inherently 
improbable,  and  it  serves  to  harmonize  the  statement 
of  Randolph  with  the  appearance  in  Knox's  history  of 
a  chapter  on  the  civil  magistrate  in  the  Confession  as 
adopted. 

This  summary  of  doctrine  was  laid  before  Parliament, 
and  carefully  read  over  article  by  article.  Then,  that  no 
one  should  have  a  pretext  for  complaining  of  undue 
haste,  its  further  consideration  was  adjourned  to  another 
day,  the  17th  of  August,  on  which  it  was  almost  unani- 
mously accepted,  and  "  ratified  by  the  three  estates  of 
the  realm. "  This  was  followed  on  the  24th  of  the  same 
month  by  the  passing  of  Acts  abolishing  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Pope  in  Scotland,  repealing  all  former  statutes 
passed  in  favour  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and 
ordaining  that  all  who  said  mass,  or  heard  mass,  should 
for  the  first  offence  be  punished  with  confiscation  of 
goods,  for  the  second  with  banishment,  and  for  the  third 
with  death.  Thus  on  the  very  threshold  of  their  under- 
taking they  manifested  the  same  intolerance  from  which 
they  had  themselves  suffered  so  much. 


140  JOHN  KNOX. 

With  a  view  to  the  proper  organization  of  the  Pro- 
testant Church,  the  Lords  of  the  Privy  Council  appointed 
Knox,  along  with  five  other  ministers,  to  draw  up  a  plan 
of  reconstruction  which  in  their  judgment  should  be 
both  agreeable  to  Scripture  and  practicable  in  the  circum- 
stances of  the  country  at  the  time.  The  outcome  of 
their  labours  was  that  scheme  of  Church  government  and 
order,  which  is  known  in  Scottish  ecclesiastical  history 
as  "  The  First  Book  of  Discipline."  It  specifies  the 
officers  of  the  Church,  permanent  and  temporary,  de- 
scribes the  manner  of  their  election  and  appointment, 
particularizes  their  duties,  and  gives  principles  for 
guidance  as  to  general  discipline,  while  it  also  furnishes 
directions  as  to  the  celebration  of  marriages  and  the  con- 
ducting of  funerals.  At  the  same  time  it  outlines  with 
great  fulness  a  magnificent  system  of  national  educa- 
tion, such  as  Scotland  is  only  now  beginning  to  realize, 
though  for' centuries  it  has  enjoyed  something  of  an  ap- 
proximation to  it. 

This  "  Book "  is  one  of  extreme  interest,  and  is 
worthy  of  far  more  attention  from  the  mass  of  the  people 
in  these  days  than  it  has  received,  or  perhaps  is  likely 
to  receive ;  but  to  whet  the  appetites  of  our  readers  for 
the  enjoyment  of  the  work  itself,  we  shall  give  some 
general  notion  of  its  contents.  The  permanent  officers 
in  the  Church  were  ministers,  elders,  and  deacons.  The 
ministers  were  to  be  elected  by  the  people,  but  in  case 
they  neglected  to  do  that  duty  within  forty  days  the 
Church  of  the  superintendent  with  his  council  was  to 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  CHURCH.    141 

"present"  to  them  a  man  whom  they  judged  apt  to 
feed  the  flock,  yet  it  was  always  to  be  avoided  "that 
any  man  be  violently  intruded  or  thrust  in  upon  any 
congregation."  Thus  Knox  and  his  brethren  were 
"  non-intrusionists  ;  "  yet  we  doubt  if  in  the  famous  con- 
troversy which  ended  in  1843,  they  would  have  come 
up  to  the  party  standard,  for  the  "  Book  "  says  :  "  But 
violent  intrusion  we  call  not,  when  the  council  of  the 
Kirk,  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  for  the  salvation  of  the 
people,  offereth  unto  them  a  sufficient  man  to  instruct 
them,  whom  they  shall  not  be  forced  to  admit  before 
examination."  Then  elsewhere  it  is  said,  "  If  his 
doctrine  is  wholesome  and  able  to  instruct  the  simple, 
and  if  the  Kirk  can  justly  reprehend  nothing  in  his  life, 
doctrine,  or  utterance,  then  we  judge  the  Kirk  which 
before  was  destitute  unreasonable  if  they  refuse  him 
whom  the  Kirk  did  offer,  and  they  should  be  compelled 
by  the  censure  of  the  council  and  Kirk,  to  receive  the 
person  appointed  and  approved  by  the  judgment  of 
the  godly  and  learned."  Where  was  "  the  veto  without 
reasons "  then  ?  And  on  whose  side  was  the  First 
Book  of  Discipline  ?  or  was  it  on  both  sides  ?  The 
minister  so  chosen  or  appointed  was  to  give  proof  of 
his  gifts  by  interpreting  before  the  men  of  soundest 
judgment  in  the  neighbourhood,  some  place  of  Scripture 
selected  by  his  brethren  in  office.  He  was  also  to  be 
examined  openly  "  before  all  that  list  to  hear,"  by  the 
ministers  and  elders  of  the  Kirk,  "  in  all  the  chief  points 
that  now  lie  in  controversy  betwixt  us  and  the  Papists, 


i42  JOHN  KNOX. 

Anabaptists,  Arians,  or  other  such  enemies  of  the 
Christian  religion."  Next  he  was  to  preach  to  the  con- 
gregation calling  him,  that  in  open  audience  of  his  flock 
he  might  give  confession  of  his  faith  in  full.  Then 
public  "edict"  was  to  be  proclaimed,  not  only  in  the 
church  where  he  was  to  serve,  but  also  in  other  places, 
especially  in  those  in  which  he  had  formerly  lived,  that 
if  there  was  known  any  reason  why  he  should  not  be 
appointed  to  the  ministry  it  should  be  shown.  If  every- 
thing were  satisfactory,  the  manner  of  his  installation 
to  office  was  to  consist  in  the  consent  of  the  people  to 
whom  he  was  appointed  and  the  approbation  of  the 
learned  ministers  by  whom  he  was  examined.  The 
admission  was  to  be  "  in  open  audience."  After  a 
sermon  by  some  "  especial  minister  "  on  the  duty  and 
office  of  ministers,  exhortations  were  to  be  given  to 
minister  and  people,  and  this  paragraph  follows  :  "  Other 
ceremony  than  the  public  approbation  of  the  people  and 
declaration  of  the  chief  minister,  that  the  person  there 
presented  is  appointed  to  serve  that  Kirk,  we  cannot 
approve ;  for  albeit  the  apostles  used  the  imposition  of 
hands,  yet  seeing  the  miracle  is  ceased,  the  using  of  the 
ceremony  we  judge  is  not  necessary."  Most  evidently 
John  Knox  believed  in  "order,"  but  just  as  evidently 
he  did  not  believe  in  "orders"  and  there  is  no  place 
here  for  the  doctrine  of  "  succession." 

The  elders  and  deacons  were  to  be  chosen  by  the 
people  annually,  from  among  a  list  given  by  the  minister, 
and  if  Churches  be  of  smaller  number  than  that  such 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  CHURCH    143 

office-bearers  can  be  chosen  from  among  them,  they 
may  be  joined  to  the  next  adjacent  Church.  We  have 
here  therefore  the  "  rotatory  "  eldership,  as  it  has  been 
called  by  some  in  America,  recognised  in  principle,  and 
the  reason  given  for  it  is  "  lest  that  by  long  continuance 
of  such  officials  men  presume  upon  the  liberty  of  the 
Church."  Those  holding  the  office  were  eligible  for 
re-election,  but  they  must  be  appointed  yearly  "  by 
common  and  free  election."  In  another  place  he  says  : 
"  This  order  has  been  ever  observed  since  that  time  in 
the  Kirk  of  Edinburgh,  that  is  that  the  old  session 
before  their  departure  nominate  twenty-four  in  election 
for  elders,  of  whom  twelve  are  to  be  chosen,  and  thirty- 
two  for  deacons,  of  whom  sixteen  are  to  be  elected, 
which  persons  are  publicly  proclaimed  in  the  audience 
of  the  whole  Kirk,  upon  a  Sunday  before  noon,  after 
sermon,  with  admonition  to  the  Kirk,  that  if  any  man 
know  any  notorious  crime  or  cause  that  might  unfit  any 
of  these  persons  to  enter  in  such  vocation  they  should 
notify  the  same  unto  the  session  the  next  Thursday  j  or 
if  any  know  any  persons  more  able  for  that  charge,  they 
should  notify  the  same  unto  the  session,  to  the  end  that 
no  man,  either  present  or  absent,  being  one  of  the  Kirk, 
should  complain  that  he  was  spoiled  of  his  liberty  in 
election."  The  duty  of  the  elders  was  to  assist  the 
minister  in  the  oversight  and  discipline  of  the  flock  ; 
and  that  of  the  deacons  was  to  superintend  the  revenues 
of  the  Church  and  to  take  care  of  the  poor. 

Besides  these  permanent  offices,  two  others  were  re- 


144  JOHN  KNOX, 

commended  for  the  meeting  of  present  emergencies. 
There  were  first  a  class  of  men  called  Readers,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  read  the  Common  Prayers  and  the 
Scriptures,  in  places  still  destitute  of  properly  qualified 
ministers,  and  which  otherwise  would  have  had  no  ser- 
vice of  any  sort  for  public  worship  or  instruction.  They 
were  restricted  to  the  function  of  reading,  and  hence 
their  name  ;  but  they  were  encouraged  to  prosecute  their 
studies,  and  if  they  advanced  satisfactorily  they  were 
permitted,  after  examination,  to  append  some  exhort- 
ations to  their  readings,  and  then  they  were  called 
Exhorters.  In  addition  to  these,  and  at  the  other  end 
of  the  scale,  the  Book  recommended  the  appointment 
of  ten  Superintendents,  each  of  whom  was  to  have  the 
supervision  of  a  district  over  which  he  was  required 
regularly  to  travel  for  the  purpose  of  preaching,  planting 
Churches,  and  inspecting  the  conduct  of  ministers,  ex- 
horters, and  readers.  Some  have  maintained  that  in 
this  there  was  a  recognition  of  Episcopacy,  but  as  Dr. 
Laing  has  shown,  the  office  was  merely  temporary,  and 
the  number  never  exceeded  the  five  who  were  first 
appointed.  Like  other  ministers  the  superintendent  was 
subject  to  the  Assembly,  and  might  be  censured,  super- 
seded, or  deprived  of  his  office  by  its  decision.  These 
office-bearers  were  to  be  appointed  in  the  first  instance 
by  the  Privy  Council,  or  by  a  commission  appointed  by 
that  body  for  the  purpose ;  but,  afterwards,  by  the  whole 
ministers  of  the  district  to  be  superintended,  from  a  list 
of  names  already  proclaimed  by  the  ministers,  elders, 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  CHURCH.    145 

and  deacons  with  the  magistrates  and  council  of  the 
chief  town  in  the  province ;  and  for  his  installation  a 
form  is  given,  with  a  list  of  the  questions  to  be  proposed 
to  him,  and  the  answers  to  be  given  by  him.  It  is 
added  that  "the  superintendent  being  elected  and 
appointed  to  his  charge,  must  be  subjected  to  the 
censure  and  correction  of  the  ministers  and  elders,  not 
only  of  his  chief  town,  but  also  of  the  whole  province 
over  the  which  he  is  appointed  overseer. " 

It  may  be  added  here,  that  "The  Book  of  Common 
Order"  makes  mention  of  still  another  class  of  office- 
bearers, called  Teachers  or  Doctors,  who  were  to  be 
men  of  learning  for  the  exposition  of  God's  word,  and 
whose  nearest  modern  equivalent  seems  to  us  to  be 
the  professors  in  theological  seminaries,  but  it  is  said 
u  for  lack  of  opportunity  we  cannot  well  have  the  use 
thereof/' 

In  regard  to  the  sacraments  the  "Book  of  Discipline" 
lays  down  that  the  Lord's  Supper  should  be  observed 
after  the  manner  already  described  by  us  when  we  were 
treating  of  Knox's  ministry  in  Berwick.  In  great  towns 
it  was  recommended  that  it  should  be  observed  four 
times  in  the  year,  and  in  order  to  keep  off  Easter,  the 
first  Sundays  in  March,  June,  September,  and  December 
are  suggested,  because  "  we  study  to  suppress  super- 
stition." It  was  also  specified  that  in  large  towns  there 
should  be  daily  sermon,  or  else  common  prayer,  with 
some  exercise  of  reading  the  Scriptures ;  and  in  smaller 
places   there   should   be  at   least  one  day  besides  the 


146  JOHN  KNOX. 

Sunday  appointed  for  sermon  and  prayer.  Baptism 
might  be  administered  wherever  the  word  was  preached, 
but  it  is  alleged  to  be  more  expedient  that  it  be  on 
the  Sunday,  and  never  in  private  unless  accompanied 
by  the  preaching  of  the  word ;  for  as  the  Book  of 
Common  Order  says,  "  The  sacraments  are  not  ordained 
of  God  to  be  used  in  private  corners  as  charms  or 
sorceries,  but  left  to  the  congregation  and  necessarily 
annexed  to  God's  word  as  seals  of  the  same."  We 
admit  the  clause  about  "charms,"  but  with  the  house- 
hold baptisms  of  the  Scriptures  before  us,  and  the  other 
baptisms,  which  were  administered — as  it  were  "ex- 
tempore " — by  the  apostles  in  the  house  of  the  jailer 
and  the  house  of  Cornelius,  we  are  not  quite  so  sure 
about  the  rest  of  "  the  rubric."  Marriages  were  not  to 
be  entered  into  secretly,  but  in  open  face  and  audience 
of  the  church;  the  place  for  their  celebration,  there- 
fore, was  the  church,  and  the  time  recommended  was 
Sunday  before  sermon.  It  was  suggested  that  there 
should  be  no  service  of  any  sort  at  funerals;  but  it  is 
added,  "  Yet  we  are  not  so  precise  but  that  we  are 
content  that  particular  kirks  use  services  in  that  behalf, 
with  the  consent  of  the  ministry  of  the  same,  as  they 
shall  answer  to  God,  and  to  the  assembly  of  the  Church 
gathered  within  the  realm." 

But  the  most  interesting  portion  of  the  Book  of 
Discipline,  perhaps,  to  us  in  these  days,  is  that  which 
refers  to  education,  contemplating  as  it  did  the  erection 
of  a  school  in  every  parish  for  the  instruction  of  the 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  CHURCH    147 

young  in  the  grammar  of  their  own  language,  in  the 
Latin  tongue,  and  in  the  principles  of  religion  ;  the 
setting  up  in  every  notable  town  of  a  "  college  "  for  the 
teaching  of  "  the  arts,  at  least,  logic  and  rhetoric,  and 
the  tongues ; "  and  finally  the  establishment  in  the 
"  towns  accustomed," — that  is  Aberdeen,  St.  Andrews, 
and  Glasgow, — of  Universities  with  full  appointments 
which  are  minutely  described.  These  were  to  be  sup- 
ported, stipends  were  to  be  furnished  for  the  superin- 
tendents, ministers,  and  readers,  and  suitable  provision 
made  for  ministers'  widows,  and  orphan  children,  out 
of  the  confiscated  revenues  of  the  Church,  the  bishops, 
and  the  cathedral  establishments,  together  with  the  rents 
arising  from  the  endowments  of  monasteries  and  other 
religious  foundations. 

The  "  Common  Prayer "  so  frequently  referred  to 
was  no  doubt  "the  order  of  Geneva  which  is  now  used 
in  some  of  our  kirks,"  as  the  words  within  inverted 
commas  quoted  from  the  Book  of  Discipline  make 
clear.  That  book  had  been  prepared  for  the  English 
congregation  of  Geneva  during  Knox's  pastorate  there ; 
and  with  such  changes  as  the  difference  of  circum- 
stances made  necessary,  it  came  to  be  adopted  by  the 
Scottish  General  Assembly  in  1564.  Our  reference  to 
it  here,  therefore,  is  a  little  premature,  as  we  are  now 
writing  of  events  that  occurred  in  1560;  but  it  may  be 
convenient,  as  we  are  treating  of  the  organization  of 
the  Scottish  Church,  to  dispose  of  the  matter,  once  for 
all,   in  this   place.      As   we   have   already   incidentally 


i48  JOHN  KNOX. 

recorded,  it  was  agreed  by  those  who  entered  into  the 
"Godly  Band,"  that  "common  prayers  "  be  read  in  the 
parish  churches  on  Sundays  by  the  curates  if  they  con- 
sented, or  if  they  refused,  by  such  persons  within  the 
bounds  as  were  best  qualified  to  do  so.  This  probably 
was  meant  to  specify  the  second  Prayer-Book  of  King 
Edward  VI.,  yet  as  Dr.  Laing  remarks,  and  the  reason- 
ing of  Dr.  McCrie  on  the  subject  tends  to  confirm  his 
statement,  "  the  adoption  of  that  book  could  only  have 
been  to  a  partial  extent,  and  of  no  long  continuance." 
He  proceeds  thus :  "  But  this,  after  all,  is  a  question 
of  very  little  importance,  although  it  has  been  keenly 
disputed,  for  it  is  well  to  remember  that  at  this  period 
there  were  no  settled  parish  churches,  and  as  there 
were  no  special  congregations  either  in  Edinburgh  or  in 
any  of  the  principal  towns  throughout  the  country,  no 
ministers  had  been  appointed.  The  lords  of  the  con- 
gregation and  their  adherents  were  much  too  seriously 
concerned  in  defending  themselves  from  the  Queen 
Regent  and  her  French  auxiliaries,  and  more  intent 
for  that  purpose  on  obtaining  the  necessary  aid  from 
England,  than  to  be  at  all  concerned  about  points  of 
ritual  importance.  In  the  following  year,  when  the 
French  troops  were  expelled  from  Scotland,  and  the 
Protestant  cause  was  ultimately  triumphant,  we  may 
conjecture  that,  in  some  measure  swayed  by  the  avowed 
dislike  of  Knox  to  the  English  service  book,  the  pre- 
ference was  given  to  the  forms  of  Geneva.  We  hear 
at  least  no  more  word  of  the  English  Prayer-Book,  and 


INSTRUCTION  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  CHURCH.    149 

in  the  "  Book  of  Discipline,"  prepared  in  December, 
1560,  the  only  form  mentioned  is  "  Our  Book  of  Com- 
mon Order,"  and  "  The  Book  of  our  Common  Order, 
called  the  Order  of  Geneva."  There  is  also  in  existence 
a  copy  of  an  edition  of  that  book  printed  in  Edinburgh 
in  1562,  which  shows  its  actual  use  at  that  time.  After- 
wards it  was  found  needful  to  have  it  enlarged,  and  the 
metrical  version  of  the  Psalms,  taken  in  large  proportion 
from  Sternhold  and  Hopkins,  and  accompanied  with 
appropriate  tunes,  was  appended  to  it.  We  cannot  go 
into  all  the  details  of  each  part  of  the  service  here,  but 
will  content  ourselves  with  giving  the  order  which  it 
follows.  It  begins  with  a  confession  of  faith  of  con- 
siderable extent,  but  following  the  lines  of  the  Apostles' 
Creed  of  which  it  is  an  expansion ;  then  come  sections 
in  the  order  in  which  we  name  them,  and  respectively 
entitled — Of  the  Ministers  and  their  Election,  Of  the 
Elders  and  as  Touching  their  Office  and  Election;  Of  the 
Weekly  Assembly  of  the  Ministers,  Elders  and  Deacons ; 
Of  the  Interpretation  of  the  Scriptures.  After  these 
comes  the  sanctuary  service  proper,  consisting  first  of  a 
prayer  of  confession,  of  which  a  choice  of  one  or  other 
of  three  forms  is  given,  or  perhaps  it  may  have  been 
intended  that  all  three  should  be  used,  for  the  book  is 
not  so  explicit  here  as  elsewhere;  second,  a  psalm  to 
a  plain  tune  sung  by  the  people  ;  third,  a  prayer  by 
the  minister  for  the  assistance  of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  for 
which  no  form  is  given,  and  the  minister  is  to  offer  it 
as  the  Holy  Spirit  shall  move  his   heart ;   fourth,   the 


150  JOHN  KNOX. 

sermon  ;  fifth,  a  prayer  for  the  whole  state  of  Christ's 
Church,  and  for  the  Queen  and  her  council,  and  the 
whole  body  of  the  commonwealth ;  sixth,  the  Apostles' 
Creed;  seventh,  a  psalm  sung  by  the  people;  eighth, 
the  Benediction,  after  one  or  other  of  two  forms,  to 
wit,  that  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  or  that  of  the  apostle 
at  the  end  of  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  but 
in  both  instances  "  us  "  is  substituted  for  "  you  ;  "  and 
so  the  congregation  departeth.  To  this  are  appended 
the  Genevan  form  of  prayer  after  sermon  ;  and  another 
form  to  be  used  after  sermon,  on  the  week-day  ap- 
pointed for  common  prayer;  prayers  used  in  the 
churches  of  Scotland  during  the  time  of  their  perse- 
cution by  the  French ;  the  thanksgiving  after  their 
departure  ;  and  a  prayer  for  the  general  assemblies  of 
the  Church.  It  will  be  observed  that  nothing  is  here 
said  of  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  but  this  was  not 
because  that'  w7as  under-valued,  but  because  the  reader, 
who  was  in  many  cases  the  minister's  assistant,  had 
already,  before  the  commencement  of  the  service  proper, 
attended  to  that  duty  in  the  hearing  of  the  people.  So 
far  were  Knox  and  his  friends  from  slurring  over  that 
exercise,  that  in  the  Book  of  Discipline  this  character- 
istic passage  occurs :  "  Further,  we  think  it  a  thing 
most  expedient  and  necessary  that  every  church  have 
a  Bible  in  English,  and  that  the  people  be  commanded 
to  convene  to  hear  the  plain  reading  or  interpretation 
of  the  Scriptures  as  the  Church  shall  appoint,  that 
by  frequent  reading  this  gross  ignorance,  which  in  the 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  CHURCH.    151 

accursed  papistry  hath  overflown  all,  may  partly  be 
removed.  We  think  it  most  expedient  that  the  Scrip- 
tures be  read  in  order,  that  is,  that  some  one  book  of 
the  Old  and  the  New  Testament  be  begun  and  orderly 
read  to  the  end.  And  the  same  we  judge  of  preaching, 
where  the  minister  for  the  most  part  remaineth  in  one 
place;  for  this  skipping  and  divagation  from  place  to 
place,  be  it  in  reading,  be  it  in  preaching,  we  judge 
not  so  profitable  to  edify  the  Church,  as  the  continual 
following  of  one  text." 

The  order  for  baptism  follows :  the  father,  or  in  his 
absence  the  godfather,  is  to  rehearse  the  articles  of  his 
faith  (this  mention  of  the  godfather  is  interesting,  and 
some  may  be  surprised  to  learn,  that  at  the  baptisms 
in  Geneva  of  Knox's  two  sons,  who  were  born  there, 
Whittingham  was  godfather  to  the  one  and  Miles  Cover- 
dale  to  the  other) ;  the  minister  follows  with  an  expo- 
sition of  the  Creed  ;  after  that  comes  a  prayer ;  then  the 
minister  taketh  water  in  his  hand,  layeth  it  on  the 
child's  forehead,  repeating  the  words  of  the  formula  of 
baptism,  and  closes  with  an  offering  of  thanks.  The 
Book  of  Discipline  had  already  disallowed  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  all  anointings,  and  the  like.  This  is  followed 
by  "  the  manner  of  the  Lord's  Supper,"  into  which  we 
need  not  go,  as  that  has  been  already  described.  Then 
there  is  a  single  sentence  on  burial,  discouraging  services 
at  the  grave ;  but  after  burial  "  the  minister,  if  he  be 
present  and  required,  goeth  to  the  church  if  it  be  not 
far  off,  and  maketh  some  comfortable  exhortation  to  the 


152  JOHN  KNOX. 

people  touching  death  and  resurrection. "  The  book 
concludes  with  "The  Order  of  Ecclesiastical  Discipline," 
pointing  out  the  three  causes  of  discipline — the  two  kinds 
of  discipline  private  and  public,  and  the  like.  There  is 
in  it  no  form  for  marriage ;  but  tliat  could  be  supplied 
from  the  "Order  of  Geneva,"  which  in  this  respect 
follows  the  lines  of  other  ecclesiastical  books. 

This  "  Book  of  Common  Order "  has  often  been 
called  "John  Knox's  Liturgy,"  and  within  due  limita- 
tions it  is  not  inaccurately  so  denominated ;  but  the  term 
is  apt  to  be  misleading,  and  it  needs  to  be  added  that 
the  forms  contained  in  it  are  not  prescribed  for  constant 
and  exclusive  use,  but  are  given  more  in  the  way  of  a 
directory  to  ministers  as  to  the  conduct  of  the  service. 
The  "  Readers "  of  course  were  restricted  to  them ; 
but  ministers  were  left  free  to  use  them  or  not  at  their 
discretion.  Thus  we  find  in  what  we  may  call  the 
"rubrics  "  such  expressions  as  these  :  "When  the  congre- 
gation is  assembled  at  the  hour  appointed,  the  minister 
useth  one  of  these  two  confessions,  or  like  in  effect;" 
"  the  minister  after  the  sermon  useth  this  prayer  follow- 
ing, or  such  like."  Similar  liberty  is  given  as  to  the 
prayers  in  the  forms  for  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper ; 
and  at  the  end  of  the  form  for  the  service  on  the  Sunday 
we  have  this  general  statement :  "  It  shall  not  be  neces- 
sary for  the  minister  daily  to  repeat  all  these  things  be- 
fore mentioned;  but  beginning  with  some  manner  of  con- 
fession, to  proceed  to  the  sermon,  which  ended,  he  useth 
either  the  prayer  for  all  estates  before  mentioned,  or  else 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  CHURCH.  153 

prayeth  as  the  Spirit  of  God  shall  move  his  heart,  framing 
the  same  according  to  the  time  and  manner  which  he 
hath  entreated  of."  Thus  the  position  of  the  book,  as 
concerns  the  debate  between  liturgy  proper  and  free 
prayer,  is  one  of  liberty,  furnishing  forms  to  those  who 
wished  to  use  them,  and  leaving  those  who  did  not  to 
pray  as  the  Spirit  moved  them ;  but  showing  to  both 
alike  what  order  was  to  be  observed  in  the  service  as  a 
whole,  what  subjects  were  to  be  introduced  into  the 
prayers,  and  in  what  order  and  connection  they  were 
to  be  brought  into  them.  It  ought  to  be  noted  also 
that  this  book  gave  a  great  impulse  to  congregational 
singing  of  psalms,  which  was  adopted  instead  of  that  of 
choral  anthems;  and  the  fashion  now  so  universal,  of 
printing  the  tunes  in  connection  with  the  Psalms,  was 
followed,  if  not  indeed  introduced,  so  far  as  Scotland  is 
concerned  by  it.  But  though  Knox  had  undoubtedly 
a  hand  in  the  preparation  and  sanction  of  this  so- 
called  Liturgy,  Dr.  Laing  has  unqualifiedly  affirmed 
"  that  in  no  instance  do  we  find  himself  using  set  forms 
of  prayer."  The  importance  of  the  subject  in  itself, 
and  the  general  interest  now  felt  in  it  by  most  of  the 
Presbyterian  and  Congregational  Churches  alike  in  Great 
Britain  and  America,  must  be  our  apology  for  going  so 
fully  into  this  interesting  history,  and  for  setting,  as  far 
as  we  may,  the  exact  truth  about  it  before  the  reader. 

But  we  must  now  resume  the  thread  of  our  narrative. 
The  Book  of  Discipline  never  was  so  ratified  as  to 
become  the  law  of  the  land.     Its  general  outlines,  in- 


154  JOHN  KNOX. 

deed,  were  followed  in  the  organization  of  the  Church ; 
but  though  it  received  the  signatures  of  many  members 
of  the  Privy  Council,  it  was  bitterly  opposed  by  others — 
by  some  because  they  were  unwilling  to  disgorge  the 
share  of  the  Church's  patrimony  of  which  they  had  taken 
possession,  and  by  others  because  of  their  aversion  to 
the  strict  moral  surveillance  to  which  it  would  have 
subjected  them.  Knox  puts  the  matter  in  a  nutshell 
when  he  says :  "  Everything  that  impugned  to  their 
corrupt  affections  was  called  in  their  mockage  a  '  devout 
imagination.'  The  cause  we  have  already  declared: 
some  were  licentious  ;  some  had  greedily  gripped  to  the 
possessions  of  the  Kirk ;  and  others  thought  that  they 
would  not  lack  their  part  of  Christ's  coat,  and  that  be- 
fore ever  He  was  hanged,  as  by  the  preachers  they  were 
oft  rebuked."  The  final  arrangement  of  the  temporalities 
was  made  later,  when  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  were 
divided  into  three  parts,  two  of  which  were  given  to  the 
ejected  popish  clergy  for  their  lives ;  and  the  other  was 
divided  between  the  court  and  the  Protestant  ministers. 

As  to  the  conduct  of  public  worship  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Church  passed  an  Act  in  December, 
1562,  which  enacted  that  "  one  uniform  order  shall  be 
taken  in  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  solemni- 
zation of  marriages,  and  burial  of  the  dead,  according  to 
the  Book  of  Geneva";  and  in  December,  1564,  it  was 
ordained  by  the  same  body  "that  minister,  exhorter, 
and  reader  shall  have  one  of  the  psalm  books  lately 
printed  in  Edinburgh  and  use  the  order  contained  there- 


RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  CHURCH.    155 

in,  in  prayers,  marriage,  and  ministration  of  the  sacra- 
ments." 

In  the  latter  part  of  1560  Knox  entered  upon  his 
ministry  in  Edinburgh,  with  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Giles 
as  his  parish  church,  and  John  Cairns  as  his  assistant 
or  reader.  The  city  council  provided  for  his  lodging 
a  house  at  the  Netherbow  Port,  which  had  been  that 
f  the  Abbot  of  Dunfermline,  and  which  is  now  the 
property  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  by  whom  it 
is  preserved  as  a  memorial  of  the  Reformer.  The 
council  assigned  him  at  first  a  stipend  of  ^200,  besides 
discharging  his  house  rent.  After  the  settlement  by  the 
Privy  Council  above  alluded  to,  he  received  at  least  a 
part  of  his  stipend  from  the  common  fund  of  the 
ministers — for  there  was  an  "  equal  dividend  "  of  the 
portion  given  to  the  Protestant  clergy — and  the  city 
council  added  to  that  what  was  necessary  to  bring  it 
up  to  the  sum  originally  given.  An  interesting  illustra- 
tion of  their  care  for  his  comfort  is  furnished  in  the  Act 
of  council  of  date  30th  October,  1561,  which  runs  thus: 
"The  same  day  the  provost,  bailies,  and  council  ordains 
the  Dean  of  Guild  with  all  diligence  to  make  a  warm 
study  of  deals  to  the  minister  John  Knox,  within  his 
house  above  the  hall  of  the  same,  with  light  and  windows 
thereunto,  and  all  other  necessaries.''  But  before  that 
time  a  dark  shadow  had  fallen  upon  his  dwelling,  for 
toward  the  end  of  December,  1560,  his  wife  died,  leaving 
him  with  his  two  boys  to  mourn  her  loss. 

Public  affairs  just  then  also  had  a  threatening  aspect. 


156  JOHN  KNOX. 

Mary  and  her  husband,  the  King  of  France,  persist- 
ently refused  either  to  ratify  the  Treaty  of  Leith,  or 
to  confirm  the  settlement  of  the  Reformed  Church,  and 
were  preparing  a  French  army  for  the  invasion  of  Scot- 
land \  while  agents  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  were 
sent  over  to  rally  the  adherents  of  the  old  faith.  But 
"  man  proposes  and  God  disposes,"  for  before  the  pro- 
jected invasion  could  be  carried  out  Francis  II.  died 
(on  December  5th,  1560),  and  Lord  James  Stuart  was 
sent  by  a  convention  of  the  nobility  to  France,  not,  as 
some  have  alleged,  to  invite  Mary  to  Scotland,  but  as 
Lord  James  himself  wrote  to  Cecil,  "  for  declaration 
of  our  duty  and  devotion  to  her  highness."  Before  his 
departure  he  was — we  quote  from  Knox's  "History"' — ■ 
"plainly  premonished  that  if  ever  he  condescended 
that  she  should  have  mass  publicly  or  privately  said 
within  the  realm  of  Scotland,  that  then  betrayed  he 
the  cause  of  God,  and  exposed  the  religion  even  to  the 
uttermost  danger  that  he  could  do.  That  she  should 
have  mass  publicly,  he  affirmed  that  he  never  should 
consent,  but  to  have  it  secretly  in  her  chamber,  who 
could  stop  her?  The  danger  was  shown,  and  so  he 
departed."  He  left  Edinburgh  on  the  iSth  of  March, 
and  on  the  19th  of  August,  1561,  Mary  arrived  in 
Scotland,  where  she  was  received  with  every  demon- 
stration of  enthusiastic  welcome. 


<59 


CHAPTER  XI. 
Knox  and  Queen  Mary  Stuart,  1561-1563. 

BEAUTIFUL  in  person,  attractive  in  manner,  able, 
acute,  brilliant  even,  in  intellect,  Mary  Stuart 
had  many  qualities  which  might  have  been  turned  to 
good  account  for  the  welfare  of  her  country.  But, 
brought  up  in  a  French  court,  her  moral  code  was 
neither  of  the  highest  nor  the  purest ;  educated  under 
the  supervision  of  her  uncles  of  Lorraine,  she  was  taught 
to  believe  that  the  one  great  object  of  her  life  was  to 
advance  the  interests  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  ; 
and  sister-in-law  to  him  whose  name  is  for  ever  black- 
ened by  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  she  was  not 
likely  to  be  over  scrupulous  as  to  the  means  which  she 
would  employ  to  gain  her  end.  So  far  as  she  had 
shaped  a  policy  to  herself,  when  she  came  to  Scotland, 
it  would  seem  to  have  been  to  temporize  with  the  Pro- 
testants, until  she  had  time  either  to  fascinate  them  by 
the  spell  of  her  personal  magnetism  or  to  crush  them  by 
her  power ;  then  to  make  the  throne  of  Scotland  a  step- 
ping-stone to  that  of  England,  to  which  she  claimed  to 
be  the  lawful  heir,  and  so  to  bring  that  realm  also  back 

157 


156  JOHN  KNOX. 

to  its  allegiance  to  the  Pope.  This  made  her  and  Eliza- 
beth implacable  enemies.  They  were  neighbours  ;  they 
were  cousins ;  they  were  queens,  these  two,  and  the 
struggle  between  them  was  to  the  death.  One  or  other 
must  go  down.  Each  played  a  deep  and  deceitful  game, 
but  Elizabeth  was  moved  by  ambition  for  herself,  while 
Mary  was  devoted  to  a  cause,  and  so  it  is  that  as  she 
lays  her  head  upon  the  block  at  Fotheringay  it  is  en- 
circled with  the  halo  of  a  kind  of  martyrdom,  and  the 
eye  of  the  sternest  judge  is  for  the  moment  blinded  to 
the  guilt  of  her  life  by  the  tear  of  pity  which  dims  it  as 
he  looks  upon  the  manner  of  its  close. 

Knox  and  she  from  the  very  first  seem  to  have  singled 
each  other  out  for  a  conflict  hand  to  hand.  He  saw 
that  everything  which  he  counted  dear  depended  on  the 
manner  in  which  she  was  dealt  with ;  and  she  perceived 
that  he  was  the  moving  spirit  in  that  religious  revolt 
which  it  was  her  mission  to  put  down.  He  feared  the 
effect  of  her  blandishments  upon  others,  and  she  recog- 
nised the  magnitude  of  his  influence  upon  the  people. 
He  saw  that  if  she  could  be  baffled  in  her  efforts  to  re- 
establish popery  in  the  land,  the  victory  would  be  finally 
won ;  and  she  felt  that  so  long  as  he  had  the  opportunity 
of  swaying  the  multitude  by  the  fervour  of  his  eloquence, 
there  was  no  hope  of  gaining  the  end  on  which  her 
heart  was  fixed.  He  was  afraid  of  the  effect  of  what 
his  friend  Campbell  of  Kingzeancleugh  called  "  the 
sprinkling  of  the  holy  water  of  the  court ;;  upon  the  less 
reliable  of  his  adherents  ;  and  she.  feared  the  fervour  of 


KNOX  AND  MARY  STUART.  159 

his  prayers  to  God,  and  the  power  of  his  appeals  to  his 
fellow-men.  So  there  came  to  be  for  some  time  a  kind 
of  duel  between  them,  and  the  issue  was  at  last  a  victory 
for  Knox.  We  need  not  approve  unqualifiedly  of  every- 
thing which  he  did  or  said  in  the  course  of  the  struggle, 
yet  we  must  rejoice  in  the  result,  for  Knox  "builded 
better  than  he  knew,"  and  secured,  not  immediately  but 
ultimately,  the  triumph  of  a  larger  liberty  than  that 
which  he  at  the  time  believed  in ;  while  she  was  the 
representative  of  absolute  power,  and  of  a  feudalism 
which  looked  upon  the  common  people  as  existing  for 
her  convenience  and  aggrandisement  rather  than  upon 
herself  as  the  servant  of  the  state.  "  What  are  you  in 
this  commonwealth  ?  "  was  her  haughty  question  to  him 
on  one  occasion.  "  A  subject  born  within  the  same," 
was  his  ever-memorable  answer,  and  the  outcome  of  it 
has  been  that  now  in  the  land  he  loved  the  sovereign 
is  for  the  subjects,  and  not  the  subjects  for  the  sove- 
reign ;  it  is  a  little  difference  verbally,  but  in  reality  the 
gulf  between  the  two  is  that  which  divides  freedom  from 
slavery. 

The  first  collision  between  them  occurred  a  few  days 
after  her  landing.  Naturally  enough,  as  some  may 
think,  she  gave  orders  for  the  celebration  of  a  solemn 
mass  in  the  chapel  of  Holyrood  on  the  first  Sabbath 
after  her  arrival.  She  knew  of  the  law  passed  by  the 
Parliament  in  1560 ;  she  had  probably  heard  from  Lord 
James  Stuart  the  warning  which  had  been  given  to  him 
when  he  went  to  France,  and  therefore  this  act  on  her 


160  JOHN  KNOX. 

part  was  a  virtual  throwing  down  of  the  gauge  of  battle 
at  the  feet  of  the  Protestants.  And  thus  they  themselves 
interpreted  it.  Some  may  imagine  that  they  attached 
undue  importance  to  it;  yet  as  Protestantism  is  still 
insisted  on  as  a  sine  qua  non  to  succession  to  the 
British  throne,  those  who  approve  the  continuance 
of  the  Revolution  settlement  cannot  consistently  con- 
demn them.  Moreover,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  to 
the  Reformers  the  mass  was  more  than  even  an  idola- 
trous service.  It  was  a  sign  of  many  other  things  : 
thumbscrews,  racks,  galley  chains,  gibbets  and  the  like, 
which  were  inseparably  connected  with  papal  supremacy, 
and  in  truth,  as  one  has  said,  "  A  man  sent  to  row  in 
French  galleys  and  such  like  for  teaching  the  truth  in 
his  own  land,  cannot  always  be  in  the  mildest  humour." 
When  therefore  her  purpose  became  known,  great  ex- 
citement was  created  among  the  Protestants,  and  some 
spoke  of  preventing  her  by  force  from  carrying  it 
out ;  but  Knox  used  his  influence  in  private  against 
such  a  proposal.  On  the  following  Sunday,  however, 
from  his  pulpit  he  showed  his  sense  of  the  gravity  of 
the  crisis,  when,  after  exposing  the  idolatry  that  was  in 
the  mass,  he  alleged  that  "  one  mass  was  more  fearful 
unto  him  than  if  ten  thousand  armed  enemies  were 
landed  in  any  part  of  our  realm  of  purpose  to  suppress 
the  whole  religion."  Hearing  of  this  outburst  Alary 
sent  for  him  to  the  palace,  whether  of  her  own  motive 
or  at  the  suggestion  of  others  is  not  known,  and  he  had 
then,  in  the  presence  of  Lord  James  Stuart,  the  first  of 


KNOX  AND  MARY  STUART.  161 

those  interviews  which  have  been  so  harped  upon  by 
his  vituperators.  We  must  refer  our  readers  for  the 
details  to  Knox's  own  account  in  his  "  History/'  which 
has  been  little  more  than  simply  modernised  by  McCrie, 
and  must  content  ourselves  with  a  mere  summary  of 
what  occurred.  She  began  by  attacking  him  for  the 
writing  of  the  "  First  Blast,"  and  after  he  had  vindicated 
himself  as  best  he  could  for  that,  she  charged  him  with 
having  taught  the  people  to  receive  a  religion  different 
from  that  which  was  allowed  by  their  princes.  This 
brought  out  his  views  as  to  the  limits  of  obedience  to 
civil  rulers,  and  on  her  interpreting  his  words  to  mean 
that  her  subjects  should  obey  him  and  not  her,  he  ve- 
hemently repudiated  that  misapprehension,  and  alleged 
that  both  rulers  and  subjects  should  obey  God,  and  that 
kings  should  be  foster-fathers,  and  queens  nursing- 
mothers  to  His  Church.  That  elicited  the  question  from 
her  which  is  the  Church  of  God  ?  and  for  answer  there- 
to he  referred  her  to  the  Scriptures.  This  in  its  turn 
raised  the  inquiry  whose  interpretation  of  Scripture  was 
to  be  accepted  ?  which  he  answered  by  laying  down  the 
duty  of  private  judgment  and  of  the  comparing  of  one 
part  of  Scripture  with  another.  At  length  she  very 
humbly  remarked  that  she  was  not  able  to  contend  with 
him,  but  that  if  she  had  those  present  with  her  whom 
she  had  heard  they  could  answer  him,  and  he  expressed 
his  readiness  to  meet  before  her  in  argument  "  the 
learnedest  papist  in  Europe."  To  this  she  somewhat 
tartly  retorted,  "  You    may  perchance  get  that  sooner 

u 


1 62  JOHN  KNOX. 

than  you  believe,"  and  he  replied  a  little  sarcastically  to 
the  effect  that  if  he  ever  got  it,  then  indeed  it  would  be 
sooner  than  he  believed.  He  took  his  leave  in  this  courtly 
yet  scriptural  fashion,  "  Madame,  I  pray  God  that  you 
may  be  as  blessed  within  the  commonwealth  of  Scotland 
as  ever  Deborah  was  in  the  commonwealth  of  Israel." 

Thus  for  the  first  time  they  measured  their  strength, 
and  the  result  was,  in  common  speech,  a  draw.  Mary 
found  that  Knox  was  made  of  more  unyielding  stuff 
than  those  whom  heretofore  she  had  been  in  the  habit 
of  meeting;  and  John  formed  an  estimate  of  Mary's 
ability  which  his  subsequent  experience  only  served  to 
confirm.  It  was  to  be  no  child's  play  between  them. 
He  could  not  afford  to  give  so  subtle  and  ready  an 
adversary  the  least  advantage.  Writing  to  Cecil  after 
this  interview  he  says,  "  The  Queen  neither  is,  neither 
shall  be  of  our  opinion,  and  in  very  deed  her  whole 
proceedings  do  declare  that  the  cardinal's  lessons  are 
so  deeply  printed  in  her  heart  that  the  substance  and  the 
quality  are  like  to  perish  together.  I  would  be  glad  to 
be  deceived,  but  I  fear  I  shall  not.  In  communication 
with  her  I  espied  such  craft  as  I  have  not  found  in  such 
age." 

Matters  went  on  after  this  with  tolerable  quietness  for 
months,  and  Knox  kept  up  his  stated  labours  as  the 
minister  of  Edinburgh.  What  these  were  seem  now  to  be 
surprising.  He  preached  twice  every  Sunday,  and  thrice 
besides  during  the  week  on  other  days.  He  met 
regularly  once  a  week  with  his  elders  for  the  oversight  of 


KNOX  AND   MARY  STUART.  163 

the  flock ;  and  attended  weekly  the  assembly  of  the 
ministers,  for  what  was  called  "the  exercise  on  the 
Scriptures."  These  stated  and  constant  labours,  with 
the  addition  of  frequent  journeyings  by  appointment  of 
the  General  Assembly  to  perform  in  distant  parts  of  the 
country  very  much  the  duty  of  a  superintendent  for  the 
time,  were  exceedingly  exhausting  ;  and  the  city  council, 
wishing  to  relieve  him  of  some  of  his  duties,  came  (in 
April,  1562)  to  a  resolution  to  call  the  minister  of  the 
Canongate  to  undertake  the  half  of  his  charge  ;  but  their 
object  was  not  accomplished  till  June  of  the  following 
year,  when  John  Craig  became  his  colleague. 

Meanwhile  the  Reformer  came  again  into  collision 
with  the  court.  In  the  beginning  of  March,  1562,  the 
Duke  of  Guise  and  the  Cardinal  Lorraine  made  that 
assault  on  a  peaceable  and  defenceless  congregation  of 
Huguenots,  which  is  known  in  French  history  as  the 
Massacre  of  Vassy ;  and  when  the  report  of  that  was 
received  by  Mary,  she  was  so  delighted  that  she  gave  in 
honour  of  the  occasion  a  splendid  ball  in  the  palace  to 
her  foreign  servants,  by  whom  dancing  was  kept  up  to  a 
very  late  hour.  This  act  of  hers  was  exceedingly  painful 
to  Knox,  for  he  had  many  warm  friends  among  the 
Protestants  of  France,  and  his  heart  was  saddened  by 
the  tidings  of  the  treatment  to  which  they  had  been 
subjected.  Accordingly  he  gave  vent  to  his  feelings  in 
his  pulpit  on  the  following  Sunday,  when  he  preached 
from  the  text,  "  Be  wise  now,  ye  kings ;  be  instructed,  ye 
judges  of  the  earth."     After  discoursing  on  the  dignity 


164  JOHN  KNOX. 

of  magistrates  and  the  obedience  which  was  due  to 
them,  he  lamented  and  condemned  the  vices  to  which 
they  were  too  commonly  addicted,  and  made  some 
severe  strictures  on  their  conduct,  affirming,  among 
other  things,  "  that  they  were  more  exercised  in  riddling 
and  flinging,  than  in  reading  or  hearing  God's  word," 
and  that  "  fiddlers  and  flatterers  "  (John  was  evidently 
fond  of  alliteration)  "  were  more  precious  in  their  eyes 
than  men  of  wisdom  and  gravity."  The  report  of  his 
discourse  was  carried  by  some  one  to  Mary ;  and  though 
he  had  made  no  direct  assault  upon  her,  he  was  sum- 
moned on  the  next  day  to  the  palace.  Introduced  to  a 
chamber  in  which  she  sat,  surrounded  by  her  maids  of 
honour  and  principal  courtiers,  he  was  treated  to  a  long 
"  harangue,"  as  he  calls  it  (but  it  was  no  doubt  a  proper 
scolding),  on  the  enormity  of  his  conduct.  Very  wisely 
he  heard  that  out  without  interruption  ;  then,  when  his 
"  innings  "  came,  he  complained  that  he  had  evidently 
been  misreported  to  her,  and  craved  leave  to  repeat 
to  her  precisely  what  he  had  said,  thus  adroitly  contriv- 
ing that  for  that  time  at  least  she  should  listen  to  a 
sermon.  Beginning  with  the  text,  he  went  over  the 
main  points  of  his  discourse,  which,  among  other  things, 
had  in  it  this  piece  of  sound  sense  :  "  And  of  dancing, 
madame,  I  said  that  albeit  in  Scripture  I  find  no  praise 
of  it,  and  in  profane  writers  that  it  is  termed  the  gesture 
rather  of  those  that  are  mad  and  in  frenzy  than  of 
sober  men ;  yet  do  I  not  utterly  condemn  it,  providing 
that  two  vices  be  avoided  :  the  former,  that  the  principal 


KNOX  AND  MARY  STUART.  165 

vocation  of  those  that  use  that  exercise  be  not  neglected 
for  the  pleasure  of  dancing ;  and  the  second,  that  they 
dance  not  as  the  Philistines  their  fathers,  for  the  pleasure 
they  take  in  the  displeasure  of  God's  people."  The 
accuracy  of  his  rehearsal  of  his  sermon  having  been 
confirmed  by  those  who  had  heard  it  when  it  was 
originally  given,  the  Queen  said  it  was  bad  enough,  but 
admitted  that  it  had  not  been  so  reported  to  her ;  and 
then  very  naively  asked,  that  if  he  heard  anything  of  her 
that  "  misliked  "  him,  he  would  come  to  herself  and  speak 
of  it  to  her  privately.  But  Knox  believed  that  publicity 
was  one  great  means  of  securing  the  vigilance,  and 
through  that  the  safety,  of  the  people,  and  therefore  he 
declined  to  accede  to  her  request,  on  the  ostensible 
ground  that  with  the  multiplicity  of  his  labours  he  had 
not  the  time  for  running  about  the  court  and  his  con- 
gregation individually  to  deal  with  them  for  what  he 
saw  amiss.  On  this  occasion  Knox  was  the  champion 
of  "free  speech,"  and  "scored"  a  victory,  so  that  he 
departed  "  with  a  reasonable  merry  countenance  ; "  and 
when  some  of  the  bystanders  said,  "  He  is  not  afraid,"  he 
made  reply,  "  Why  should  the  pleasing  face  of  a  gentle 
woman  affray  me  ?  I  have  looked  on  the  faces  of  many 
angry  men,  and  yet  have  not  been  afraid  above 
measure,"  and  so  he  left  the  Queen  and  the  "v court  for 
that  time. 

The  Romanists,  encouraged  by  the  hope  of  success, 
began  now  to  put  forth  strenuous  exertions,  both  military 
and  controversial,  to  recover  their  lost  ground  ;  but  the 


1 66  JOHN  KNOX. 

rising  of  the  Earl  of  Huntly  in  the  north  was  put  down  by 
the  vigour  of  Lord  James  Stuart,  who  was  now  known 
as  the  Earl  of  Murray ;  and  the  success  of  the  abbot 
of  Crossraguel,  in  debate  with  Knox,  was  not  such  as  to 
encourage  others  to  follow  in  his  footsteps.  That  digni- 
tary, in  his  chapel  in  Kirkoswald,  had,  on  August  30th, 
1562,  read 'a  series  of  articles  on  the  mass  and  kindred 
subjects,  which  he  offered  to  defend  against  all  comers ; 
and  on  the  following  Sunday  Knox,  who  happened  to  be 
in  the  neighbourhood  and  heard  of  the  challenge,  came 
to  the  church  to  meet  him.  But  though  he  had  court- 
eously intimated  to  the  abbot  that  he  would  be  present, 
that  dignitary  did  not  put  in  an  appearance,  and  Knox 
himself  preached  in  the  chapel.  At  the  close  of  the 
service  a  letter  from  the  abbot  was  put  into  his  hand ; 
and,  after  negotiations,  they  met  on  the  28th  of  Sep- 
tember in  the  house  of  the  provost  of  Maybole,  where 
forty  persons  on  each  side  were  admitted  as  witnesses. 
The  debate  lasted  for  three  days,  and  strangely  enough 
was  made  by  the  abbot  to  turn  mainly  on  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  act  of  Melchizedek  in  bringing  forth  bread 
and  wine  when  he  went  out  to  meet  Abraham  returning 
from  his  victories  over  the  five  kings,  which  Knox 
averred  "  appertained  nothing  to  the  purpose."  At  the 
end  of  the  third  day  Knox,  on  the  ground  of  the  scanty 
accommodation  at  Maybole,  proposed  that  they  should 
adjourn  to  Ayr  to  finish  the  discussion  ;  but  this  was 
declined  by  the  abbot,  who  promised  to  come  to  Edin- 
burgh and  resume  it  there  if  the  Queen  would  permit. 


KNOX  AND  MARY  STUART.  167 

But  he  never  came  to  the  metropolis,  though  Knox 
alleges  that  he  himself  had  applied  to  the  Privy  Council 
for  the  necessary  permission.  As  usual  in  such  cases, 
the  victory  was  claimed  for  each  by  his  own  partisans  ; 
but  to  counteract  the  false  reports  that  were  circulated, 
Knox  prepared  and  published  the  curious  tract,  purport- 
ing to  be  an  accurate  account  of  the  debate,  which  Dr. 
Laing  has  reprinted  in  the  sixth  volume  of  the  Reformer's 
works ;  and  though  the  discussion  itself  was  on  an 
entirely  irrelevant  issue,  Knox  dealt  with  the  very  heart 
of  the  question  in  the  prologue  of  his  pamphlet,  which  is 
written  in  his  most  vigorous  and  trenchant  style.  One 
extract  will  show  how  sarcastic  he  could  sometimes  be, 
and  with  what  grim  humour  he  could  occasionally  treat 
even  the  most  sacred  subjects.  He  has  been  comparing 
the  making  of  the  "  wafer-god  "  to  that  of  the  idols  so 
witheringly  described  by  Isaiah  in  the  40th  and  41st 
chapters  of  his  prophecies,  and  then  proceeds  as  follows  : 
"  These  are  the  artificers  and  workmen  that  travail  in 
making  of  this  god,  I  think  as  many  in  number  as  the 
prophet  reciteth  to  have  travailed  in  making  of  the 
idols  ;  and  if  the  power  of  both  shall  be  compared,  I 
think  they  shall  be  found  in  all  things  equal,  except  that 
the  god  of  bread  is  subject  unto  more  dangers  than  were 
the  idolsof  the  Gentiles.  Men  made  them  :  men  make 
it.  They  were  deaf  and  dumb  :  it  cannot  speak,  hear, 
or  see.  Briefly,  in  infirmity  they  wholly  agree,  except 
that  (as  I  have  said)  the  poor  god  of  bread  is  most 
miserable   of   all   other    idols;   for   according   to   their 


1 68  JOHN  KNOX. 

matter  whereof  they  are  made,  they  will  remain  without 
corruption  for  many  years ;  but  within  one  year  that  god 
will  putrefy,  and  then  he  must  be  burned.  They  can 
abide  the  vehemency  of  the  wind,  frost,  rain,  or  snow ; 
but  the  wind  will  blow  that  god  to  sea,  the  rain  or  the 
snow  will  make  it  dough  again ;  yea,  which  is  most  of 
all  to  be  feared,  that  god  is  a  prey  (if  he  be  not  well 
kept)  to  rats  and  mice ;  for  they  will  desire  no  better 
dinner  than  white  round  gods  enow.  But,  oh  then, 
what  becometh  of  Christ's  natural  body?  By  miracle  it 
flies  to  heaven  again,  if  the  papists  teach  truly  ;  for  how 
soon  soever  the  mouse  takes  hold,  so  soon  flieth  Christ 
away,  and  letteth  her  gnaw  the  bread.  A  bold  and 
puissant  mouse  !  but  a  feeble  and  miserable  god  !  Yet 
would  I  ask  a  question  :  '  Whether  hath  the  priest  or  the 
mouse  greater  power  ? '  By  his  words  it  is  made  a  god  ; 
by  her  teeth  it  ceaseth  to  be  a  god :  let  them  advise  and 
answer."  Truly  there  is  a  ring  of  honest  old  Hugh 
Latimer  in  all  this ;  and  if  there  were  many  such  passages 
in  Knox's  sermons,  it  is  not  difficult  to  explain  how  it 
was  that  "  the  common  people  heard  him  gladly." 

In  the  May  of  the  following  year  (1563),  Knox  was 
sent  for  by  Mary  to  Loch  Leven,  where  she  was  at  the 
time  residing,  and  treated  to  another  "  interview,"  in 
which  she  endeavoured  to  induce  him  to  use  his  in- 
fluence to  put  a  stop  to  the  prosecution  of  certain  parties 
for  their  celebration  or  countenancing  of  the  mass.  But 
nothing  of  importance  resulted,  though  from  his  own 
showing  it  is  apparent  that  on.  this  occasion  he  was  very 


KNOX  AND  MARY  STUART.  169 

nearly  thrown  off  his  guard  by  the  skill  of  her  acting 
and  the  "  glamour  "  of  her  presence. 

In  this  same  month  Parliament  met  for  the  first  time 
since  Mary's  arrival  in  Scotland,  and  Knox  confidently 
expected  that  the  Treaty  of  Leith  would  be  ratified,  and 
the  establishment  of  religion  by  the  Parliament  of  1560 
would  be  put  beyond  all  question  by  its  action.  But  he 
was  doomed  to  disappointment.  The  "  holy  water  of 
the  court "  had  not  been  without  effect :  the  Protestant 
leaders  had  slackened  in  their  enthusiasm,  and  what  he 
regarded  as  a  great  opportunity  was  lost.  He  expostu- 
lated with  many  of  the  principal  men  of  the  party  on  the 
subject,  but  his  efforts  were  in  vain;  and  the  "  conten- 
tion "  between  him  and  Murray  over  it  was  "  so  sharp  " 
that  there  was  a  breach  of  friendship  between  them 
which  lasted  for  more  than  a  year.  The  effect  of  all 
this  upon  him  was  exceeding  depressing ;  and  on  a 
Sunday  before  the  dissolution  of  Parliament  he  took 
occasion  to  unburden  his  soul  to  his  congregation.  He 
expressed  his  sadness  at  the  thought  that  those  who  had 
in  their  hands  the  opportunity  to  establish  God's  cause 
had  actually  betrayed  it ;  he  affirmed  that  the  Parliament 
by  which  the  Protestant  Confession  was  adopted  and  the 
Church  reformed  was  as  free  and  lawful  as  any  ever 
held  in  Scotland;  and  as  reports  of  the  Queen's  marriage 
were  now  in  circulation,  he  warned  them  of  the  conse- 
quences that  would  ensue  if  she  should  marry  a  papist. 
His  words  gave  great  offence  to  many  Protestants  as 
well  as  Romanists  ;  and  when  the  Queen  heard  of  them 


170  JOHN  KNOX. 

he  was  again  summoned  into  her  presence.  This  was 
the  occasion  on  which  the  much  talked  of  "tears"  were 
so  plentifully  shed,  ■  d  therefore  we  may  reproduce  the 
account  of  it  givei  /  McCrie,  which  is  itself  only  a 
condensation  into  inguage  of  to-day  of  the  narrative 

given  by  Knox  in  h'      listory. 

"Her  Majesty  re  ;ed  him  in  a  very  different  manner 
from  what  she  had  '  le  at  Loch  Leven.  Never  had 
prince  been  nana  ''(she  passionately  exclaimed)  as 
she  was  :  she  had  lne  with  him  in  all  his  rigorous 
speeches  against  hei  elf  and  her  uncles  ;  she  had  offered 
unto  him  audience  whenever  he  pleased  to  admonish 
her.  '  And  yet,'  said  she,  '  I  cannot  be  quit  of  you.  I 
vow  to  God  I  shall  be  once  revenged.'  On  pronouncing 
these  words  with  great  violence  she  burst  into  a  flood  of 
tears  which  interrupted  her  speech.  When  the  Queen 
had  composed  herself,  he  proceeded  calmly  to  make  his 
defence.  Her  grace  and  he  had  (he  said)  at  different 
times  been  engaged  in  controversy,  and  he  never  before 
perceived  her  offended  with  him.  When  it  should  please 
God  to  deliver  her  from  the  bondage  of  error  in  which 
she  had  been  trained,  through  want  of  instruction  in  the 
truth,  he  trusted  that  her  Majesty  would  not  find  the 
liberty  of  his  tongue  offensive.  Out  of  the  pulpit,  he 
thought,  few  had  occasion  to  be  offended  with  him ;  but 
there  he  was  not  master  of  himself,  but  bound  to  obey 
Him  who  commanded  him  to  speak  plainly,  and  tc 
flatter  no  flesh  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

"  'But  what  have  you  do  with  my  marriage  ?'  said  the 


KNOX  AND  MARY  STUART.  171 

Queen.  He  was  proceeding  to  state  the  extent  of  his 
commission  as  a  preacher,  and  t..e  reasons  which  led 
him  to  touch  on  that  delicate  S'  'vject ;  but  she  inter- 
rupted him  by  repeating  her  ques'  :  '  What  have  ye  to 
do  with  my  marriage  ?  Or  what  you  in  this  common- 
wealth?' 'A  subject  born  with  the  same,  madame,' 
replied  the  Reformer,  piqued  bj  e  last  question,  and 
the  contemptuous  tone  in  which  as  proposed.  '  And 
albeit  I  be  neither  earl,  lord,  n<  iron  in  it,  yet  has 
God  made  me  (how  abject  that  ■  I  be  in  your  eyes) 
a  profitable  member  within  the  sa  .  Yea,  madame,  to 
me  it  appertains  no  less  to  forewarn  of  such  things  as 
may  hurt  it,  if  I  foresee  them,  than  it  doth  to  any  of  the 
nobility ;  for  both  my  vocation  and  conscience  requires 
plainness  of  me.  And  therefore,  madame,  to  yourself  I 
say  that  which  I  spake  in  public  place  :  whensoever  the 
nobility  of  this  realm  shall  consent  that  ye  be  subject  to 
an  unfaithful  husband,  they  do  as  much  as  in  them  lieth 
to  renounce  Christ,  to  banish  His  truth  from  them,  to 
betray  the  freedom  of  this  realm,  and  perchance  shall 
in  the  end  do  small  comfort  to  yourself/  At  these 
words  the  Queen  began  again  to  weep  and  sob  with  great 
bitterness.  The  superintendent  (Erskine  of  Dun,  who 
was  present),  who  was  a  man  of  mild  and  gentle  spirit, 
tried  to  mitigate  her  grief  and  resentment :  he  praised  her 
beauty  and  her  accomplishments,  and  told  her  that  there 
was  not  a  prince  in  Europe  who  would  not  reckon  him- 
self happy  in  gaining  her  hand.  During  this  scene,  the 
severe  and  inflexible  mind  of  the  Reformer  displayed 


172  JOHN  KNOX. 

itself.  He  continued  silent,  and  with  unaltered  coun- 
tenance, until  the  Queen  had  given  vent  to  her  feelings. 
He  then  protested  that  he  never  took  delight  in  the 
distress  of  any  creature  ;  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that 
he  could  see  his  own  boys  weep  when  he  corrected  them 
for  their  faults,  far  less  could  he  rejoice  in  her  Majesty's 
tears;  but  seeing  he  had  given  her  no  just  reason  of 
offence,  and  had  only  discharg  id  his  duty,  he  was  con- 
strained, though  unwillingly,  to  sustain  her  tears,  rather 
than  hurt  his  conscience  and  betray  the  commonwealth 
through  his  silence. 

"  This  apology  inflamed  the  Queen  still  more  :  she 
ordered  him  immediately  to  leave  her  presence,  and  wait 
the  signification  of  her  pleasure  in  the  adjoining  room. 
There  he  stood  as  '  one  whom  men  had  never  seen '  ; 
all  his  friends  (Lord  Ochiltree  excepted)  being  afraid  to 
show  him  the  smallest  countenance.  In  this  situation 
he  addressed  himself  to  the  court  ladies,  who  sat  in 
their  richest  dress  in  the  chamber.  '  O  fair  ladies,  how 
pleasing  were  this  life  of  yours,  if  it  should  ever  abide, 
and  then,  in  the  end,  that  we  might  pass  to  heaven  with 
all  this  gay  gear  !  But  fie  upon  that  knave  Death,  that 
will  come  whether  we  will  or  not ! '  Having  engaged 
them  in  a  conversation,  he  passed  the  time  till  Erskine 
came  and  informed  him  that  he  was  allowed  to  go  home 
until  her  Majesty  had  taken  further  advice.  The  Queen 
insisted  to  have  the  judgment  of  the  Lords  of  Articles, 
whether  the  words  he  had  used  in  the  pulpit  were  not 
actionable ;    but  she  was   persuaded  to   desist   from    a 


KNOX  AND  MARY  STUART.  173 

prosecution.  *  And  so  that  storm  quieted  in  appearance, 
but  never  in  the  heart.' "  * 

At  this  time,  when  many  of  his  friends  were  cold 
toward  him,  an  effort  was  made  by  some  of  his  enemies 
to  blacken  his  moral  character  by  accusing  him  of  a  vile 
offence,  but  the  lie  had  nothing  in  it  to  make  it  formi- 
dable. It  was  "a  lie  that  was  all  a  lie,"  and  so  it  could 
be  "  met  and  fought  with  outright."  The  vindication 
was  so  complete  that  now  very  few  remember  that  the 
allegation  was  ever  made,  and  we  refer  to  it  here  only 
to  show  that  he  too  was  made  an  illustration  of  the 
poet's  words  :  "  Be  thou  as  chaste  as  ice,  as  pure  as 
snow,  thou  shalt  not  escape  calumny." 

Much  more  serious  was  the  attempt  made  about  this 
same  time  to  convict  him  of  high  treason.  During  the 
absence  of  Mary  in  Stirling,  and  on  the  day  of  the  ob- 
servance of  the  communion  in  the  Protestant  churches, 
her  servants  at  Holyrood  had  taken  measures  for  having 
the  mass  celebrated  with  more  than  usual  publicity  and 
splendour.  The  result  was  a  scene  of  confusion  and 
"  brawling,"  almost  indeed  of  riot,  which  was  caused  by 
the  interference  of  some  Protestants  who  were  present. 
Two  of  these  were  afterwards  indicted  for  their  offence, 
which  was  called  in  the  technical  language  of  the  country 
and  the  time,  "  forethought  felony,  hame-sucken,  and 
invasion  of  the  palace."  Knox  had  been  empowered 
by  a  general  commission  from  the  Church  to  ask  the 
presence  of  the  Protestant  leaders  in  Edinburgh  for 
1  McCrie's  "  Works,"  vol.  i.  pp.  206-8. 


174  JOHN  KNOX. 

consultation  and  assistance  in  any  emergency  which  in 
his  judgment  might  require  the  same ;  and  believing 
that  the  prosecution  of  these  men  might  issue  in  very 
serious  consequences,  he  drew  up  under  the  advice  of 
the  friends  with  whom  he  usually  acted  a  circular  letter, 
which  he  sent  to  the  principal  gentlemen  of  the  "  con- 
gregation," stating  the  circumstances,  and  asking  them 
without  fail  to  come  to  Edinburgh  for  the  trial.  A  copy 
of  this  letter  found  its  way  into  the  hands  of  Mary,  who 
laid  it  before  the  Privy  Council,  by  whom  it  was  pro- 
nounced to  be  treasonable.  The  Queen  was  exultant. 
Now  was  her  opportunity,  and  she  resolved  to  turn  it 
to  the  best  advantage.  An  extraordinary  meeting  of 
the  councillors  and  other  noblemen  was  convened  to  be 
held  at  Edinburgh  about  the  middle  of  December,  1563, 
to  try  the  cause.  Some  urged  Knox  to  acknowledge 
that  he  had  done  wrong,  and  cast  himself  on  the  Queen's 
mercy,  but  that  he  absolutely  refused  to  do,  because  he 
did  not  believe  that  he  had  committed  an  offence ;  and 
when  Secretary  Maitland  and  Murray  called  upon  him, 
and  somewhat  ungenerously  sought  to  get  out  of  him 
the  nature  of  the  defence  which  he  meant  to  set  up,  he 
very  wisely  put  an  end  to  the  conversation  with  them, 
and  resolved  to  keep  his  own  counsel  until  he  was 
actually  called  to  vindicate  his  conduct. 

When  the  day  came,  he  stood  forth  as  the  champion 
of  the  liberty  of  assembly,  as  before  he  had  appeared  in 
vindication  of  free  speech ;  and  so  admirably  did  he 
plead  his  cause  that  he  was  acquitted,  if  not  unanimously 


KNOX  AND  MARY  STUART.  175 

at  least  ?iem.  co?i.,  of  the  charge  which  had  been  brought 
against  him. 

Much  has  been  said  of  the  bearing  of  Knox  towards 
Queen  Mary,  and  said,  as  we  believe,  most  unjustly,  for 
though  he  felt  himself  constrained  to  oppose  her  course, 
and  would  not  yield  to  her  wishes,  yet  he  was  never 
rude,  or  irreverent,  or  ungentlemanly.  As  Carlyle  says, 
"  he  was  never  in  the  least  ill-tempered  with  her 
Majesty ; "  and  most  of  those  who  accuse  him  in  this 
matter,  we  shrewdly  suspect,  have  never  read  the 
accounts  of  his  interviews  with  her,  but  have  simply 
accepted  the  common  babblement  which  has  been  so 
long  current  regarding  them.  No  candid  student  of  the 
rehearsal  of  these  interviews  in  Knox's  History,  we  are 
sure,  could  refuse  to  endorse  the  accuracy  of  Carlyle's 
statement  of  the  case  when  he  says  "  Mary  often  enough 
bursts  into  tears,  oftener  than  once  into  passionate  long 
continued  fits  of  weeping,  Knox  standing  with  mild  and 
pitying  visage,  but  without  the  least  hair's-breadth  of 
recanting  or  recoiling,  waiting  till  the  fit  pass,  and  then 
with  all  softness  but  with  all  inexorability  taking  up  his 
theme  again." 

But  while  Knox's  manner  toward  her  Majesty  has 
been  most  microscopically  examined,  very  little  attention 
has  been  given  to  Mary's  manner  toward  Knox  ;  and  on 
this  particular  occasion,  in  the  presence  of  the  council 
and  the  nobles,  sitting  too  as  a  kind  of  court  before 
which  he  was  on  trial  for  high  treason,  it  was  flippant 
and  unmannerly  in  the  extreme,  and  was  besides  entirely 


176  JOHN  KNOX. 

incompatible  with  the  presence  in  her  of  a  judicial  spirit. 
When  she  entered  the  chamber  and  took  her  seat,  she 
first  smiled,  and  then  burst  into  a  loud  guffaw,  saying, 
"This  is  a  good  beginning,  but  wot  you  whereat  I 
laugh  ?  That  man  made  me  weep,  and  shed  never  a 
tear  himself.  I  will  see  now  if  I  can  make  him  weep." 
Then  after  his  letter  had  been  read,  and  he  was  defend- 
ing himself,  she  cried,  "  What  is  this  ?  Methinks  you 
trifle  with  him.  Who  gave  him  authority  to  make  con- 
vocation of  my  lieges?  Is  not  that  treason?"  There 
spake  the  despot,  for  beneath  the  velvet  of  her  glove 
there  was  always  a  hand  of  iron ;  but  she  touched  a 
chord  that  vibrated  to  a  note  which  she  had  not  thought 
to  sound  when  she  used  these  words,  for  Ruthven  said 
boldly  and  categorically,  "  No,  madame  !  "  The  gruff 
nobleman  was  immediately  commanded  by  her  Majesty 
to  "  hold  his  peace,"  and  Knox  went  on  with  his  defence 
in  such  a  way  that  he  successfully  vindicated  his  right 
to  call  and  hold  a  meeting  of  his  friends  for  any  lawful 
purpose  when  and  where  he  chose.  He  was  next  ques- 
tioned about  the  statement  in  his  letter  to  the  effect  that 
he  feared  the  prosecution  of  these  men  would  open  a 
door  for  the  infliction  of  cruelty  upon  a  greater  number  ; 
and  as  he  was  proceeding  to  enlarge  upon  the  deeds 
of  the  papists  in  France,  and  denouncing  those  who  had 
done  them,  he  was  interrupted  by  the  ejaculation  of 
one  of  the  nobles,  "  You  forget  yourself;  you  are  not  in 
the  pulpit."  This  called  forth  the  often  quoted  words, 
J  *  I  am  in  the  place  where  I  am  demanded  of  my  con- 


KNOX  AND  MARY  STUART.  177 

^science  to  speak  the  truth;  and,  therefore,  the  truth  I 
speak  ;  impugn  it  who  so  list."  The  Queen  now  felt  that 
a  defeat  was  imminent,  and  as  a  last  resort,  she  tried  to 
work  on  the  sympathy  of  her  lords  by  referring  once  more, 
but  this  time  in  another  fashion,  to  the  fact  that  Knox 
had  made  her  weep.  That,  however,  only  gave  him  an 
opportunity  of  rehearsing  all  that  had  occurred  on  the 
occasion  to  which  she  had  referred,  and  thereby  made 
his  victory  the  more  sure.  But  what  is  to  be  said  of  her 
conduct  throughout  on  this  trial  ?  "  Heard  you  ever, 
my  lords,  a  more  despiteful  and  treasonable  letter  ?  " 
"You  shall  not  escape  so."  "  Is  it  not  treason  to  accuse 
a  prince  of  cruelty  ?  "  "  Lo  !  what  say  you  to  all  that  ?  " 
These  are  a  few  of  her  expressions  when  she  was  sitting 
as  a  judge,  and  with  these,  and  others  already  quoted, 
before  us,  is  it  not  idle  to  speak  of  justice,  far  less  of 
mannerliness  or  gentlewomanliness  in  the  case  ?  Un- 
gentlemanliness  is  bad  enough, — though  even  of  that  we 
maintain  that  there  was  nothing  in  Knox's  treatment  of 
his  queen, — but  to  seek  to  overbear  a  court  as  Mary  did 
at  this  time,  by  the  manifestation  of  her  eagerness  to 
have  the  accused  condemned,  either  by  fair  means  or 
foul,  is  infinitely  worse.  The  spirit  of  Mary  here  was 
that  of  Jeffreys  long  after.  It  was  indeed  far  from  being 
so  coarsely  and  brutally  expressed,  but  it  is  worthy  of  all 
reprobation,  and  in  view  of  the  facts  which  we  have  here 
presented,  it  is  little  wonder  that  Hume,  in  writing  to 
the  historian  Robertson,  should  have  said,  "lam  afraid 
that  you,  as  well  as  myself,  have  drawn  Mary's  character 

N 


178  JOHN  KNOX. 

with  too  great  softenings.  She  was  undoubtedly  a  violent 
woman  at  all  times."  But  he  never  altered  his  represen- 
tation in  his  work,  and  to  him,  perhaps,  more  than  to  all 
others,  the  prevalent  misconception  of  our  Reformer's 
character,  manner,  and  motives  is  to  be  traced. 

The  result  of  this  trial  was  announced  by  Secretary 
Maitland,  when  he  said  to  Knox  that  he  was  at  liberty 
to  return  home  for  that  night.  But  though  his  voice 
was  smooth,  his  soul  was  full  of  wrath,  and  Mary's 
mortification  vented  itself  in  taunting  the  very  man  who 
had  given  her  the  letter,  for  voting  for  the  acquittal  of 
him  who  wrote  it.  Thus  again  the  Reformer  triumphed, 
and  it  is  with  a  glow  of  satisfaction  akin  to  that  with 
which  Nehemiah  recounts  his  escape  from  Sanballat, 
that  he  finishes  the  record  thus :  "  That  night  was 
neither  dancing  nor  fiddling  in  the  court,  for  madame 
was  disappointed  of  her  purpose,  which  was  to  have  had 
John  Knox  in  her  will,  by  vote  of  her  nobility." 


CHAPTER  XII. 
Ministry  at  Edinburgh,  1564-1570. 

IN  the  month  of  March,  1564,  Knox,  who  had  been 
a  widower  for  now  rather  more  than  three  years, 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Margaret  Stewart,  daughter  of 
Lord  Ochiltree,  and  the  room  in  the  old  baronial  resi- 
dence where  the  ceremony  was  performed  is  still 
pointed  out  to  visitors.  Despite  their  dissimilarity  in 
age,  the  union  seems  to  have  been  a  very  happy  one, 
and  such  as  brightened  the  last  days  of  the  Reformer's 
home  life.  This  year  passed  with  little  to  make  it 
memorable  save  a  long  discussion  between  Knox  and 
Secretary  Maitland,  which  originated  in  an  attempt  to 
restrain  the  freedom  of  the  Reformer's  utterances  on 
public  questions  in  the  pulpit,  and  wandered  over  a 
great  variety  of  topics,  touching,  among  others,  the 
duties  of  magistrates  and  their  subjects,  but  led  to  no 
immediate  practical  result.  The  calm,  however,  was 
not  of  long  continuance,  for  we  come  now  to  those 
troublous  times  and  dark  doings  which  have  made  the 
reign  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  the  great  debating  ground 
of    modern    history.     She   determined   to   marry  Lord 


180  JOHN  KNOX. 

Henry  Darnley,  the  son  of  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  a  Catho- 
lic and  an  empty-headed  fool.  The  knowledge  of  her 
purpose  provoked  the  project  of  an  insurrection  among 
some  of  her  nobles,  who  were  headed  by  the  Earl  of 
Murray ;  but  though  they  had  the  promise  of  assistance 
from  Elizabeth,  she  failed  them  when  it  came  to  the 
point,  and  the  result  was  that  all  who  had  been  con- 
cerned in  it  were  proclaimed  as  outlaws  and  banished 
from  the  kingdom.  In  this  affair  Knox  took  no  part 
whatever,  though  Lord  Ochiltree,  his  father-in-law,  was 
implicated  in  it,  and  was  one  of  the  exiles.  But  though 
he  did  not  compromise  himself  by  proposing  to  join  in 
the  meditated  appeal  to  arms,  he  was  as  strongly  op- 
posed to  Mary's  marriage  as  any  of  them,  and  as  was 
his  wont  he  liberated  his  conscience  in  the  pulpit,  but  it 
was  not  until  after  the  nuptials  had  been  consummated 
that  his  words  were  especially  regarded.  The  marriage 
was  celebrated  on  the  29th  of  July,  1565,  and  on  the 
19th  of  August,  Darnley,  for  some  reason,  chose  to  at- 
tend the  public  services  in  St.  Giles'  Cathedral,  where  a 
great  throne  had  been  prepared  for  his  reception. 
Whether  Knox  had  received  any  intimation  of  his  in- 
tention to  be  present  we  are  unable  to  say,  but  in  his 
sermon  there  were  two  things  which  gave  great  offence 
to  this  prominent  hearer.  The  first  was  his  quotation 
of  the  passage,  "  I  will  give  children  to  be  their  princes, 
and  babes  shall  rule  over  them ;  children  are  their  op- 
pressors, and  women  rule  over  them  " ;  and  the  second, 
his  declaration  that  "  God  had  punished  Ahab  because 


MINISTRY  AT  EDINBURGH.  181 

he  did  not  correct  his  idolatrous  wife  Jezebel."  Darnley 
believed  that  these  words  were  meant  for  him,  and  went 
home  in  the  sulks,  making  his  likeness  to  Abab  only 
the  more  striking  by  refusing  to  eat  his  dinner.  The 
preacher  was  immediately  summoned  before  the  Privy 
Council,  by  whom  he  was  told  that  he  must  desist  from 
preaching  as  long  as  their  majesties  were  in  the  city. 
For  his  own  exoneration  Knox  printed  the  sermon  for 
the  preaching  of  which  he  was  thus  condemned,  and  it 
remains  the  only  specimen  of  his  pulpit  work  proper 
which  has  come  down  to  us.  It  is  founded  on  Isaiah 
xxvi.  13-21,  and  is  of  the  nature  of  an  expository 
discourse,  bringing  out  the  primary  signification  and  re-  • 
ference  of  the  words,  and  making  application  of  the 
principles  evolved  by  that  ^process  to  the  characters  and 
circumstances  of  his  hearers.  It  gives  evidence  of  con- 
siderable scholarship,  of  immense  familiarity  with  Scrip- 
ture, of  good  acquaintance  with  ancient  history,  and  of 
great  fervour  of  spirit.  It  is  neither  a  hasty  nor  ill 
digested  production,  and  it  impresses  us  a  good  deal 
more  by  its  solidity  than  by  its  invective.  Indeed,  there 
are  in  it  no  passages  that  one  could  put  into  comparison 
for  that  with  others  which  have  been  already  mentioned 
by  us  ;  and  it  is  a  little  difficult  for  the  modern  reader 
to  wed  in  his  imagination  a  style  so  calm  and  weighty  as 
that  which  he  finds  here,  with  a  manner  so  vehement  as 
the  Reformer's  is  usually  described  to  have  been.  But 
no  printer  can  reproduce  the  man,  or  the  surroundings  ; 
here  are  the  wood  and  the  lamb  indeed ;  but  in  these 


1 82  JOHN  KNOX. 

others  were  the  fire — from  heaven  too  in  a  sense — which 
flamed  forth  with  its  energizing  and  consuming  power, 
and  made  his  discourse  a  thing  of  might.  Such  differ- 
ence as  there  is  between  a  bugle,  and  a  bugle  blown  by 
a  living  martial  musician,  there  is  between  a  printed 
sermon  and  the  same  discourse  preached  by  its  author 
with  the  glow  of  spiritual  enthusiasm  in  his  heart  and 
on  his  face.  The  one  is  a  thing  of  curious  study  to  the 
professional  man,  the  other  is  a  trumpet  call  which  puts 
heart  and  heroism  into  hundreds  in  a  moment. 

Knox  showed  his  law-abiding  spirit  by  obeying  the 
injunction  of  the  authorities.  His  biographer,  indeed, 
-says  that  "it  does  not  appear  that  he  continued  any 
time  suspended  from  preaching,"  but  Dr.  Laing  believes 
that  he  did  not  resume  his  usual  ministrations  at  Edin- 
burgh, unless  at  occasional  intervals,  until  after  Queen 
Mary  had  been  deprived  of  her  authority.  He  was  not 
idle,  however,  in  those  months,  for  he  was  employed  not 
only  in  the  preparation  of  his  "  History  of  the  Reforma- 
tion in  Scotland,"  but  also  in  the  visitation  of  churches 
in  the  south  of  Scotland,  and  in  a  journey  into  England, 
specially  undertaken  to  look  after  his  two  boys  whom 
he  had  sent  thither  for  education. 

In  this  interval  occurred  the  murder  of  David  Rizzio, 
on  the  9th  March,  1566,  in  the  palace  of  Holyrood. 
That  wretched  man  was  an  Italian  adventurer,  whose 
knowledge  of  foreign  languages  made  him  useful  to 
Mary  in  her  correspondence  with  the  other  members  of 
the   Anti-Protestant    League    to    which    she    belonged. 


MINISTRY  AT  EDINBURGH.  183 

His  acquaintance  with  her  political  designs  thence  de- 
rived opened  the  way  for  his  becoming  one  of  the  most 
confidential  of  her  advisers.  That  roused  against  him 
the  enmity  of  the  Scottish  nobles,  and  Darnley  became  y 
jealous  of  his  intimacy  with  the  Queen ;  so  with  his 
assistance  and  approval  David  was  foully  slain  almost 
before  the  eyes  of  his  mistress.  Attempts  have  been 
made  to  implicate  Knox  with  this  affair,  but  though  he 
does  not  conceal  his  satisfaction  at  David's  "  removal," 
he  was  in  no  wise  accessory  to  his  death.  The  very 
next  day  after  this  tragedy  the  exiled  lords  returned  to 
Edinburgh,  and  then  followed  thick  and  fast  upon  each 
other  events  of  great  and  lasting  importance  to  the  land. 
These  were  the  birth  of  James  VI.  on  the  19th  of  June, 
1566  ;  the  murder  of  Darnley,  on  the  night  between  the 
9th  and  10th  of  February,  1567,  a  deed  which  was  plan- 
ned and  carried  out  by  Bothwell  and  his  agents,  not 
without  dark  grounds  for  the  suspicion,  to  say  the  very 
least,  that  he  and  they  were  acting  with  the  knowledge 
and  consent  of  Mary  herself;  the  marriage  on  the 
15th  May,  1567,  of  Mary  to  Bothwell,  that  black-hearted 
villain  who  was  the  evil  genius  of  her  life ;  the  surrender 
of  Mary  to  the  opposing  Lords  at  Carberry  Hill  on  the 
15th  of  June  ;  the  imprisonment  of  Mary  in  Loch  Leven 
Castle,  where,  on  the  24th  of  July,  she  signed  a  deed 
abdicating  the  crown  in  favour  of  her  infant  son,  and 
appointing  Murray  regent  during  his  minority  ;  the 
escape  of  Mary  from  her  place  of  confinement  on  the 
2nd  of  May,  1568 ;  and  the  defeat  on  May  13th  of  her 


184  JOHN  KNOX. 

forces  at  Langside,  whence  she  fled  to  seek  from  Eliz- 
abeth refuge  in  England,  with  the  Fotheringay  block  as 
the  ultimate  result.  For  full  details  regarding  all  of 
these  we  must  refer  our  readers  to  the  Scottish  histories, 
and  we  content  ourselves  with  mentioning  them  thus 
in  a  group  in  order  that  we  may  carry  in  our  hands  the 
clue  for  the  intelligent  following  out  of  our  Reformer's 
career. 

When  the  infant  James  was  crowned  in  the  parish 
church  of  Stirling,  on  the  29th  of  July,  1567,  the  sermon 
on  the  occasion  was  preached  by  Knox,  though  he 
objected  to  perform  the  ceremony  of  anointing,  which 
accordingly  was  done  by  another.  In  the  month  of 
December  following  he  preached  at  the  opening  of 
Parliament,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  an  Act 
passed  which  ratified  all  that  had  been  done  in  the 
way  of  Reformation  by  the  Parliament  of  1560;  while 
an  additional  statute  was  now  made  providing  that  no 
rJ  prince  should  afterwards  be  admitted  to  exercise  au- 
thority in  the  kingdom  without  taking  an  oath  to  main- 
tain the  Protestant  religion. 

During  the  regency  of  Murray  everything  went  well, 
but  his  assassination  (what  terrible  times  these  were !) 
at  Linlithgow,  by  Hamilton  of  Bothwellhaugh,  on  the 
23rd  of  January,  1569J  was  a  terrible  blow  to  Knox. 
Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  he  was  never  quite  the 
same  man  afterwards.  Knox  and  Murray  loved  and 
trusted  each  other  thoroughly — perhaps  all  the  more 
from   the   additional    insight  into   each  other's   hearts 


MINISTRY  AT  EDINBURGH.  185 

which  their  temporary  estrangement  gave  them,  and  when 
the  Regent  was  stricken  down  the  Reformer  felt  as  if  his 
chief  human  helper  had  been  taken  from  him.  Murray 
was  a  genuine  patriot,  and  in  the  main  a  sincere  and 
noble  man.  He  had  his  faults,  and  on  exceptional 
occasions  like  that  described  by  Froude,1  when  he  was 
made  the  tool  of  Elizabeth,  he  was  constrained  to  be, 
at  least  by  his  silence,  a  party  to  deceit  which  in  his 
heart  he  abhorred ;  but  that  historian  has  not  hesitated 
to  call  him  "a  noble  gentleman  of  stainless  honour,"2 
and  to  affirm  that  i:  his  noble  nature  had  no  taint  of  self 
in  it " ; 3  and  though  Robertson  has  done  his  best  to 
belittle  him,  the  verdict  of  history  we  think  will  settle  in 
the  acceptance  of  Spottiswood's  eulogy  :  "  a  man  truly 
good,  and  worthy  to  be  ranked  among  the  best  gover- 
nors that  this  kingdom  hath  enjoyed,  and  therefore  to 
this  day  honoured  with  the  title  of  '  the  good  Regent.' " 
On  the  Sunday  after  this  irreparable  loss,  Knox  poured 
out  his  heart  to  God  before  the  congregation  in  a  prayer 
which  showed  how  deeply  the  bereavement  had  depressed 
his  spirit,  and  on  the  day  of  the  funeral  he  preached  a 
sermon  from  the  text,  "  Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die 
in  the  Lord,"  in  which  he  sketched  the  character  and 
career  of  his  friend  with  such  effect  that  three  thousand 
persons  were  moved  to  tears  by  his  words.  The  blow 
fell  sorely  on  the  country ;   and  it  nearly  crushed  the 


l<<  History,"  vol.  vii.  pp.  345-7. 

2  Vol.  vii.  p.  340.  3  Vol.  iii.  p.  355. 


1 86  JOHN  KNOX. 

Reformer.  The  loss  preyed  upon  his  spirit  and  en- 
feebled his  strength,  so  that  in  the  month  of  October 
following  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis  or  apoplexy, 
which  laid  him  aside  altogether  for  a  season  from  his 
work,  and  gave  warning  of  the  approaching  end.  His 
enemies  exulted  over  his  illness,  and  could  not  refrain 
from  congratulating  themselves  on  the  prospect  that  he 
would  never  preach  again ;  but  after  some  weeks  he  so 
far  regained  his  vigour  as  to  resume,  in  part  at  least, 
those  labours  in  which  he  had  found  so  much  of  his  joy. 
Throughout  the  winter  and  the  spring  he  continued  to 
bear  testimony  from  his  pulpit  to  the  principles  which 
he  had  so  long  proclaimed,  and  to  expose  and  rebuke 
the  evil-doers  who  were  once  more  at  work  in  the  land. 
For  though  the  murder  of  Murray  brought  no  permanent 
advantage  to  the  party  of  reaction,  it  brought  back 
again,  for  a  while  at  least,  the  chaos  and  contentions 
out  of  which  he  had  begun  to  bring  order  and  peace. 
Lennox,  as  the  grandfather  of  the  infant  king,  was  put 
into  the  place  of  Murray,  but  within  a  comparatively 
brief  period  he  was  mortally  wounded  in  an  assault 
made  upon  the  adherents  of  the  king  at  Stirling,  by 
a  force  led  by  Huntly  in  the  interests  of  Mary,  and 
Erskine  of  Mar  was  chosen  as  his  successor.  This  was 
in  September,  157 1.  Meanwhile  Kirkaldy,  of  Grange, 
who  had  been  appointed  governor  of  the  Castle  of  Edin- 
burgh by  Murray,  had  turned  his  back  upon  the  pro- 
fessions and  promise  of  his  life,  by  avowing  himself  a 
partisan  of  the  Queen.     He  held  that  fortress  for  her 


MINISTRY  AT  EDINBURGH.  187 

behoof,  and  gave  its  protection  to  Secretary  Maitland, 
who  was  working  earnestly  in  her  cause.  By  Maitland's 
influence  Kirkaldy  was  encouraged  in  a  course  which  was 
exceedingly  painful  to  Knox.  The  Laird  of  Grange  and 
he  had  been  fellow-sufferers  in  the  French  galleys,  and 
to  the  last  the  heart  of  the  Reformer  yearned  after  him. 
Yet  he  could  not  permit  his  conduct  as  governor  of  the 
Castle  to  go  unreproved.  On  two  occasions,  in  particu- 
lar, he  was  constrained  to  take  public  notice  of  his 
doings.  The  first  was  briefly  this.  There  had  been  a 
scuffle  in  Dunfermline  between  a  cousin  of  Kirkaldy  and 
his  relatives,  and  some  of  the  Duries,  a  family  with 
whom  the  Kirkaldys  had  a  feud ;  and  one  of  the  latter 
having  been  seen  shortly  afterwards  in  the  streets  of 
Edinburgh,  was  by  Kirkaldy's  orders  followed  to  Leith 
by  some  of  his  tools,  that  they  might  chastise  him  with 
a  cudgel.  But  they  took  the  sword  instead  and  left  him 
dead.  In  the  attempt  to  escape,  one  of  the  assailants 
was  arrested  and  committed  to  the  Tolbooth ,  but 
Grange  and  his  men  attacked  the  building,  violently 
forced  it  open,  and  marched  off  with  their  liberated 
comrade  to  the  Castle,  the  guns  of  which  they  fired, 
either  in  token  of  triumph  or  for  the  purpose  of  striking 
terror  into  the  citizens.  In  his  sermon  on  the  following 
Sunday  Knox  protested  against  this  interference  with  the 
course  of  justice,  using  language  which  seems  to  us  both 
temperate  and  kindly:  "Had  it  been  done,"  he  said, 
"  by  the  authority  of  a  bloodthirsty  man,  or  one  who 
had  no  fear  of  God,  he  would  not  have  been  so  much 


188  JOHN  KNOX. 

moved ;  but  he  was  affected  to  think  that  one,  of  whom 
all  good  men  had  formed  so  great  expectations,  should 
have  fallen  so  low  as  to  act  such  a  part,  one  too  who, 
when  formerly  in  prison,  had  refused  to  purchase  his 
own  liberty  by  the  shedding  of  blood."  An  utter  mis- 
representation of  this  statement  was  carried  to  Kirkaldy, 
who  complained  to  John  Craig,  the  Reformer's  colleague, 
by  whom  he  was  referred  to  the  elders  of  the  Church 
of  which  Kirkaldy  still  professed  to  be  a  member. 
Knox  himself,  as  soon  as  he  had  the  matter  brought 
before  him,  denied  that  he  had  used  the  words  imputed 
to  him,  and  took  the  first  opportunity  of  correcting  the 
false  report,  by  repeating  and  vindicating  what  he  had 
really  said. 

The  other  occasion  was  that  of  the  appearance  shortly 
after,  in  the  church,  of  Kirkaldy,  accompanied  by  a 
strong  armed  escort,  composed  of  those  who  had  been 
most  conspicuous  in  the  recent  outrages.  He  had  not 
attended  the  public  services  for  nearly  a  year,  and  Knox 
looked  upon  his  presence  so  surrounded  as  an  attempt 
to  overawe  him.  But  he  was  not  the  man  to  be  thus 
intimidated,  and  so,  as  his  good  servant  Ballantyne  tells 
us,  he  took  occasion  then  and  there  to  inveigh  "  against 
all  such  as  forget  God's  benefits  received,  and:  in  treat- 
ing of  God's  great  mercies  bestowed  upon  penitents, 
according  to  his  common  manner,  he  forewarned  proud 
contemners  that  God's  mercy  appertained  not  to  such 
as  with  knowledge  prou  dly  transgressed,  and  after,  more 
proudly  maintained    the   same."     Kirkaldy  was  greatly 


MINISTRY  AT  EDINBURGH.  189 

enraged  at  these  words,  and  even  in  the  church  he 
gave  vent  to  his  anger  so  loudly  as  to  be  heard  by  a 
great  part  of  the  congregation.  The  report  went  out 
in  consequence  that  he  meant  to  kill  the  preacher :  but 
Knox  held  on  his  way,  dealing  defiantly  with  the  anony- 
mous libels  that  were  sent  him,  and  publicly  declaring 
in  words  that  have  become  proverbial,  that  "  from  Isaiah, 
Jeremiah,  and  other  inspired  writers,  he  had  learned  to 
call  a  fig  a  fig,  and  a  spade  a  spade." 

But  when,  in  1571,  Kirkaldy  received  the  Hamiltons 
and  their  forces  into  the  Castle,  the  friends  of  Knox 
became  seriously  alarmed  for  his  safety.  They  pro- 
posed to  form  a  guard  who  should  constantly  accompany 
him  for  his  protection ;  but  he  would  not  accept  the 
offer,  and  even  if  he  had  accepted  it  Kirkaldy  would 
not  have  permitted  it  to  be  carried  out.  It  was  accord- 
ing to  military  etiquette  that  he  should  suppress  or 
prevent  all  such  outrages,  and  he  expressed  his  willing- 
ness to  provide  a  guard  for  Knox  from  the  soldiers  of 
his  garrison.  He  even  tried  to  get  the  Hamiltons  to 
guarantee  the  safety  of  the  Reformer,  but  they  declared 
that  they  could  not  enter  into  any  such  engagement, 
"  because  there  were  many  rascals  and  others  among 
them  who  loved  him  not,  who  might  do  him  harm 
without  their  knowledge.''  One  evening  a  musket  was 
fired  into  his  window,  and  had  he  not  been  sitting  in 
a  place  different  from  that  which  he  usually  occupied, 
the  ball  must  have  struck  him,  and  would  in  all  pro- 
bability  have   mortally  wounded   him.      After   that  he 


190  JOHN  KNOX. 

was  importuned  by  his  friends  to  seek  a  place  of  safety 
elsewhere,  but  he  refused  to  leave  his  post  until  they 
told  him  that  they  had  made  up  their  minds  to  defend 
him,  if  need  be,  with  their  lives,  and  that  if  blood  was 
shed  they  would  leave  it  on  his  head.  This  argument 
prevailed,  and  he  consented  to  remove  to  St.  Andrew's, 
whither  he  went  by  easy  stages,  and  where  he  arrived 
in  the  month  of  May,  1571.  In  his  absence  his  pulpit 
in  St.  Giles  was  filled  for  a  while  by  Alexander  Gordon, 
Bishop  of  Galloway,  who  pleased  the  Queen's  party 
but  displeased  the  vast  majority  of  the  Protestants,  so 
that  the  Church  of  Edinburgh  was  for  a  time  dissolved, 
while  disorder  reigned  in  the  city,  and  what  was  vir- 
tually a  civil  war  was  raging  in  the  country. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
Last  Days,  15 70- 15 72. 

AT  St.  Andrews  Knox  was  free  from  personal  danger, 
k.  and  resumed  the  work  of  preaching.  In  the 
pulpit  of  the  parish  church  he  discoursed  almost 
regularly,  with  a  vigour  which  triumphed  for  the  time 
over  his  physical  weakness.  We  have  a  most  graphic 
portrait  of  him  at  this  time  from  the  pen  of  James 
Melville  who  was  then  a  student  at  the  University,  and 
who  writes  thus  in  his  diary :  (We  are  constrained  to 
modernize  the  words  that  they  may  be  generally  under- 
stood by  English  and  American  readers,  but  we  know 
how  much  they  must  lose  thereby  in  expressiveness,  to 
those  who  understand  the  vernacular)  "  Of  all  the 
benefits  that  I  had  that  year  (15  71),  was  the  coming  of 
that  most  notable  prophet  and  apostle  of  our  nation, 
Mr.  John  Knox,  to  St.  Andrews,  who  by  the  faction  of 
the  Queen  occupying  the  castle  and  town  of  Edinburgh, 
was  compelled  to  remove  therefrom,  with  a  number  of 
the  best,  and  chose  to  come  to  St.  Andrews.  I  heard 
him  teach  there  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  that  summer 
and  the  winter  following.     I  had  my  pen  and  my  little 


192  JOHN  KNOX. 

book,  and  took  away  such  things  as  I  could  compre- 
hend. In  the  opening  up  of  his  text  he  was  moderate 
for  the  space  of  half  an  hour;  but  when  he  entered  on 
application,  he  made  me  so  to  shudder  {scottice^  '  grue ') 
and  tremble,  that  I  could  not  hold  my  pen  to  write. 
He  was  very  weak.  I  saw  him  every  day  of  his  teach- 
ing, go  slowly  and  warily,  with  a  fur  of  martens  about 
his  neck,  a  staff  in  the  one  hand,  and  good,  godly 
Richard  Ballantyne,  his  servant,  holding  up  the  other 
armpit  (scottice,  l  oxter '),  from  the  abbey  to  the  parish 
kirk,  and  by  the  said  Robert  and  another  servant  lifted 
up  to  the  pulpit,  where  he  behoved  to  lean  at  his  first 
entrance;  but  before  he  had  done  with  his  sermon,  he 
was  so  active  and  vigorous,  that  it  seemed  as  if  he 
would  beat  the  pulpit  in  pieces  {scottice,  '  ding  the  pulpit 
in  blads ')  and  fly  out  of  it."  Nor  must  we  omit  this 
other  trait,  evincing  as  it  does  the  interest  taken  by  the 
aged  warrior  in  the  young  soldiers  who  were  then  just 
girding  on  their  armour.  "  He  would  sometimes  come 
in  and  rest  in  our  college  yard,  and  call  us  scholars  unto 
him,  and  bless  us,  and  exhort  us  to  know  God,  and  His 
work  in  our  country,  and  stand  by  the  good  cause,  to 
use  our  time  well,  and  learn  the  good  instructions  and 
follow  the  good  example  of  our  masters." 

In  St.  Andrews  too,  at  this  time,  he  published  his 
"Answer  to  the  Letter  of  a  Jesuit  named  Tyrie,"  which 
was  the  last  work  that  he  gave  to  the  world.  It  had 
been  composed  years  before,  in  the  haste  which  was 
incident  to  his  numerous  occupations,  but  it  was  now 


LAST  DAYS.  193 

revised  and  enlarged,  and  gives  expression  in  a  vigorous 
manner  to  his  maturest  views  on  faith,  religion,  and 
the  Catholic,  or  true  and  Universal  Church.  Here  is  a 
nugget  from  it,  not  without  its  pertinence  to  some 
popular  notions  current  in  the  days  in  which  we  live. 
11  We  find  that  Christ  sends  not  His  afflicted  Church  to 
seek  a  lineal  succession  of  any  persons,  before  He  will 
receive  them ;  but  He  with  all  gentleness  calleth  His 
sheep  unto  Himself,  saying,  *  Come  unto  Me  all  ye 
that  labour  and  are  laden,  and  I  will  ease  you.' "  Truly 
a  golden  sentence,  touching  the  very  quick  of  all  Church 
controversies,  and  emphasizing  the  principle  never  to  be 
forgotten,  that  we  must  find  our  way  to  the  Church 
through  Christ,  and  not  to  Christ  through  the  Church. 

In  public  questions  he  did  not  cease  to  take  an 
interest,  although  the  state  of  his  health  unfitted  him  for 
active  leadership.  Still,  that  he  was  no  unconcerned 
spectator  of  what  was  going  forward  is  apparent  from  the 
following  statement,  which,  because  of  its  faithfulness  and 
fairness,  we  take  from  the  article  by  Dr.  Mitchell  on 
"The  Last  Days  of  John  Knox/'1  "In  March,  1572, 
the  General  Assembly  was  held  in  St.  Andrews,  in  the 
schools  of  St.  Leonard's  College.  This  place  was  no 
doubt  chosen,  in. part  at  least,  for  the  convenience  of  the 
aged  Reformer,  whose  counsel  in  that  time  of  trouble 
was  specially  needed.  It  was  the  last  Assembly  at  which 
he  was  able  to  be  present,  and  probably  the  first 
witnessed   by    Davidson   and   Melville.       '  There,'    the 

1  u  Catholic  Presbyterian,"  vol.  vi.  p.  265. 

O 


194  JOHN  KNOX. 

latter  narrates,  '  was  motioned  the  making  of  bishops, 
to  the  which  Mr.  Knox  opposed  himself  directly  and 
zealously.'  .  .  .  Some  months  before  this  a  con- 
vention at  Leith  had  given  its  sanction  to  a  sort  of 
mongrel  episcopacy,  nominally  to  secure  the  tithes  more 
completely  to  the  Church,  but  really  to  secure  the  bulk 
of  them  by  a  more  regular  title  to  certain  covetous 
noblemen,  who  sought  in  this  way  to  reimburse  them- 
selves for  their  services  in  the  cause."  (The  noblemen 
presented  to  the  bishoprics  men  who  had  first  covenanted 
to  give  by  far  the  larger  portion  of  the  revenues  to  the 
patrons,  and  with  a  truly  Scottish  humour,  the  people 
called  these  dignitaries  "tulchan  bishops,"  a  "tulchan" 
being  the  name  which  was  given  to  a  calf's  skin  stuffed 
with  straw,  which  was  set  up  to  make  the  cow  give  her 
milk  more  willingly.)  "  First  among  these  noblemen 
was  the  Earl  of  Morton,  then  one  of  the  chief  supporters 
of  the  young  prince,  and  soon  after  Regent  of  the  king- 
dom. Having  secured  a  presentation  to  the  Arch- 
bishopric of  St.  Andrews,  for  Mr.  John  Douglas,  he 
came  over  to  the  city,  had  him  elected  in  terms  of  the 
convention,  and  on  the  ioth  of  February  inaugurated 
into  his  office.  This  was  performed  by  Winram, 
superintendent  of  Fife,  according  to  the  order  followed 
in  the  admission  of  superintendents,  save  that  the 
Bishops  of  Caithness,  the  Superintendent  of  Lothian, 
and  Mr.  David  Lindsay,  who  sat  beside  Douglas,  laid 
their  hands  on  his  head.  Knox  had  preached  that  day 
as  usual,  but,  as  Ballantyne  is  careful  to  tell  us,  "had  re- 


LAST  DA  YS.  195 

fused  to  inaugurate  the  said  bishop  ";  and,  as  others  add, 
had  denounced  "anathema  to  the  giver,  and  anathema 
to  the  receiver,"  who,  as  rector  and  principal,  "  had 
already  far  more  to  do  than  such  an  aged  man  could 
hope  to  overtake."  In  the  face  of  such  a  fact,  it  is  idle 
for  historians  to  insinuate,  as  Burton  does,  that  Knox 
gave  in  his  closing  days  even  a  quasi  sanction  to 
episcopacy. 

In  the  month  of  July,  1572,  a  cessation  of  hostilities 
for  a  time  was  agreed  upon  between  the  Regent's  party 
and  that  of  the  Queen,  so  that  the  city  of  Edinburgh 
was  again  delivered  from  annoyance,  either  at  the  hands 
of  the  garrison  or  of  '"the  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser 
sort"  who  made  its  streets  unsafe.  As  Melville  says, 
"the  good  and  honest  men  thereof  returned  to  their 
homes,  and  earnestly  implored  their  pastor,  if  he  could 
without  injury  of  his  health,  to  do  the  same;  and  so  Mr. 
Knox  and  his  family  passed  home  to  Edinburgh,"  where 
he  arrived  on  the  23rd  of  August.  On  the  following 
Sunday  he  preached  in  his  old  pulpit;  but  as  in  his 
weakness  he  could  not  make  himself  heard  in  the  large 
cathedral,  the  western  part  of  the  nave,  known  as  the 
Tolbooth  Church,  was  fitted  up  for  his  use ;  and  that  was 
the  scene  of  his  latest  ministrations.  He  preached  as 
often  as  he  was  able,  delivering  a  course  of  sermons  on 
the  Redeemer's  Passion,  which  he  had  always  wished 
to  be  the  theme  of  his  last  discourses.  But  in  his 
debilitated  condition,  his  ancient  power  had  well-nigh 
departed.     Only  once  during  this  period  of  decadence 


196  JOHN  KNOX. 

did  the  "  wonted  fires  "  flame  forth  out  of  "  their  ashes." 
When  he  heard  of  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  he 
had  himself  assisted  into  the  pulpit,  and  there,  moved  at 
once  by  the  tender  recollections  of  the  many  friends  of 
his  own  who  had  been  among  the  victims,  and  by  his 
life-long  antagonism  to  the  system  which  was  identified 
with  that  horrible  cruelty,  he  thundered  forth  the  ven- 
geance of  Heaven  against  "that  cruel  murderer  the  king 
of  France  ; "  and  turning  to  Le  Croc,  the  French  ambas- 
sador, he  said,  like  another  Elijah  :  "  Go  tell  your  master 
that  sentence  is  pronounced  against  him ;  that  the 
Divine  vengeance  shall  never  depart  from  him  or  from 
his  house,  except  they  repent ;  but  his  name  shall  remain 
an  execration  to  posterity,  and  none  proceeding  from 
his  loins  shall  enjoy  his  kingdom  in  peace. " 

His  closing  work  was  the  installation  of  his  own 
successor.  During  his  absence  from  Edinburgh,  Mr. 
John  Craig,  his  colleague,  had  gone  to  another  sphere  of 
labour,  and  his  flock  had  now  no  other  shepherd  than 
himself.  He  was,  therefore,  very  naturally  anxious  to 
see  some  true  and  earnest  man  set  over  them  in  the 
Lord,  and  accordingly  obtained  permission  from  the 
General  Assembly  to  induct  any  minister  who  might  be 
chosen  by  himself,  the  Superintendent  of  Lothian,  and 
the  Church  of  Edinburgh,  to  take  his  place.  They 
agreed  to  nominate  James  Lawson,  of  Aberdeen,  who, 
being  urged  by  Knox  to  repair  immediately  to  Edin- 
burgh, in  a  touching  letter,  with  a  still  more  touching 
postscript, — "Haste,  lest  ye  come  too  late!"— came  to 


LAST  DAYS.  197 

the  metropolis,  gave  such  evidence  of  his  gifts  as  satisfied 
all  parties  concerned,  and  was  installed  on  the  9th  of 
November.  Knox  preached  the  sermon  on  the  occasion 
in  the  Tolbooth  Church,  and  after  that  removed  with 
the  congregation  to  the  larger  area  of  the  cathedral, 
where  he  went  through  the  form  of  admission  by  pro- 
posing the  usual  questions,  and  giving  exhortation  first 
to  the  pastor  and  then  to  the  people.  He  concluded 
with  prayer  and  the  benediction ;  "  then  leaning  upon 
his  staff  and  the  arm  of  an  attendant,  he  crept  down  the 
street,  which  was  lined  with  the  audience,  who,  as  if 
anxious  to  take  the  last  sight  of  their  beloved  pastor, 
followed  him  until  he  entered  his  house,  from  which  he 
never  again  came  out  alive." 

The  next  day  he  was  seized  with  a  violent  cough,  and 
he  gradually  declined  until  the  24th  of  November,  when, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-seven,  he  breathed  his  last.  His 
faithful  servant,  Richard  Ballantyne,  has  left  a  minute 
description  of  his  death-bed  experiences  and  sayings, 
which  Dr.  McCrie  has  reproduced  the  main  features  of 
in  his  biography.  We  select  those  which  seem  to  us  to 
give  most  insight  into  the  character  of  the  man.  Visited, 
a  few  days  after  his  last  sickness  began,  by  two  of  his 
personal  friends,  lie  "  for  their  cause  came  to  the  table," 
for  it  was  the  hour  of  dinner,  and  caused  an  hogshead  of 
wine  in  the  cellar  to  be  pierced  for  their  entertainment, 
at  the  same  time  playfully  desiring  one  of  them  to  send 
for  some  of  it  as  long  as  it  lasted,  for  he  would  not  tarry 
until  it  was  all  drunk."   To  the  elders  of  his  Church  who 


198  JOHN  KNOX. 

came  in  a  body  to  his  room  at  his  request,  he  said,  "  I 
profess  before  God  and  His  holy  angels  that  I  never 
made  merchandise  of  the  sacred  word  of  God ;  never 
studied  to  please  men  ;  never  indulged  my  own  private 
passions  or  those  of  others,  but  faithfully  distributed  the 
talents  entrusted  to  me  for  the  edification  of  the  Church 
over  which  I  watched.  Whatever  obloquy  wicked  men 
may  cast  upon  me  respecting  this  point,  I  rejoice  in  the 
testimony  of  a  good  conscience."  As  they  were  leaving, 
he  detained  his  colleague  and  the  minister  of  Leith  to  give 
them  a  message  to  Kirkaldy  of  Grange,  adding  to  it  these 
words:  "That  man's  soul  is  dear  to  me,  and  I  would 
not  have  it  perish,  if  I  could  save  it."  When  they 
returned  and  told  him  that  they  had  met  with  a  rude 
reception,  he  was  much  grieved,  and  said,  "  that  he  had 
been  earnest  in  prayer  for  that  man,  and  still  trusted 
that  his  soul  would  be  saved,  although  his  body  should 
come  to  a  miserable  end."  Such  petitions  as  these 
dropped  from  his  lips  at  intervals,  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus. 
Be  merciful  to  Thy  Church  which  Thou  hast  redeemed. 
Give  peace  to  this  afflicted  commonwealth.  Raise  up 
faithful  pastors  who  will  take  the  charge  of  Thy  Church. 
Grant  us,  Lord,  the  perfect  hatred  of  sin,  both  by  the 
evidences  of  Thy  wrath  and  mercy."  To  his  friend 
Fairley,  of  Braid,  he  said  :  "  Every  one  bids  me  good- 
night, but  when  will  you  do  it  ?  I  have  been  greatly 
indebted  to  you,  for  which  I  shall  never  be  able  to 
recompense  you,  but  I  commit  you  to  one  who  can, 
to  the  eternal  God."     To  Campbell  of  Kingzeancleugh 


LAST  DA  VS.  199 

he  said,  "  I  must  leave  the  care  of  my  wife  and  children 
to  you,  to  whom  you  must  be  a  husband  in  my  room." 
A  few  hours  before  his  death  he  said  to  his  wife,  "  Go 
read  where  I  first  cast  my  anchor,"  and  she  understand- 
ing his  reference,  read  to  him  the  17th  chapter  of  John's 
Gospel,  and  afterwards  a  part  of  Calvin's  "  Sermons  on 
the  Ephesians."  Shortly  after,  seeing  that  death  was  fast 
approaching,  and  when  he  was  unable  to  speak,  his 
servant  said  to  him,  "  Now,  sir,  the  time  that  you  have 
long  called  to  God  for,  the  end  of  your  battle,  is  come ; 
and  seeing  all  natural  power  now  fails  you,  remember 
the  comfortable  promises  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 
which  ofttimes  you  have  shown  us.  And  that  we  may 
understand  and  know  that  you  hear  us,  give  us  some 
sign."  And  "  so  he  lifted  up  one  of  his  hands,  and  in- 
continent thereafter  rendered  up  his  spirit,  apparently 
without  pain  or  movement,  so  that  he  seemed  rather  to 
fall  asleep  than  to  die." 

He  was  buried  on  the  26th  of  November,  his  body 
being  accompanied  to  the  grave  by  a  large  concourse  of 
people,  among  whom  were  the  Earl  of  Morton,  newly- 
appointed  Regent,  and  other  noblemen.  According  to 
the  rubric  of  his  own  Book  of  Common  Order,  there  was 
no  religious  service  at  the  funeral,  but  when  the  body 
was  lowered  to  its  place  Calderwood  tells  us  that  the 
Regent  Morton  uttered  these  words  :  "  Here  lieth  a 

MAN  WHO  IN  HIS  LIFE  NEVER  FEARED  THE  FACE  OF 
MAN  ;  WHO  HATH  13EEN  OFTEN  THREATENED  WITH  DAGGE 
AND  DAGGER,  BUT    YET   HATH   ENDED  HIS  DAYS  IN  PEACE 


JOHN  KNOX. 

The  precise  site  of  his  grave  cannot 
now  be  identified.  It  was  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Giles, 
which  extended  from  the  church  down  the  slope  of  the  hill 
till  it  reached  the  Cowgate,  and  was  wholly  obliterated 
in  1633  when  the  Parliament  House  and  other  buildings 
were  erected.  If  any  stone  ever  marked  the  spot,  it  was 
probably  then  removed  or  destroyed.  Tradition  points 
out  as  the  place  that  which  is  now  marked  with  the 
letters  "  I.  K.,  1572,"  a  few  feet  to  the  west  of  the  statue 
of  Charles  II.  in  the  Parliament  Square.  What  Charles 
ever  did  for  Scotland  to  deserve  any  such  memorial,  it 
would  puzzle  the  wisest  man  to  say,  unless  perhaps  on 
the  principle  that  it  was  his  intolerance  which  most  of 
all  provoked  the  Revolution ;  but  many  will  agree  with 
Dr.  Laing  in  thinking,  that  "  a  more  appropriate  monu- 
ment for  such  a  locality  would  be  a  statue  of  the  great 
Reformer." 

Knox,  we  are  told,  was  of  small  stature,  and  his  con- 
stitution never  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  exposure 
to  which  he  was  subjected  in  the  French  galleys,  so  that 
his  frame  was  not  well  fitted  for  hardship  and  fatigue. 
He  too  had  his  "thorn  in  the  flesh,"  and  that  he  did  so 
much  in  spite  of  that  is  a  proof  of  the  dominating  power 
of  his  spiritual  earnestness  over  his  physical  weakness. 
Of  the  five  portraits  reproduced  and  criticised  so  cha- 
racteristically by  Carlyle  in  his  "Brochure"  on  the 
subject,  we  give  our  verdict  in  favour  of  that  which  he 
calls  the  Somerville  portrait,  and  of  which  he  says  that 
it  is  "  the  only  probable  likeness  anywhere  known  to 


LAST  DAYS.  201 

exist."  It  is  that  of  a  true  Scottish  face— sharp,  wedge- 
like in  its  contour,  surmounted  by  a  bald  dome-like  head 
fringed  with  scanty  hair,  the  beard  short  and  not  very 
profuse,  the  lips  firmly  set,  with  the  slightest  curl  of 
scorn  in  their  expression,  and  the  eyes  small,  clear, 
penetrating,  and  quick ;  altogether  "  a  physiognomy 
worth  looking  at,"  and  far  more  in  keeping  with  the 
character  and  history  of  the  Reformer,  than  the  long- 
bearded  timber-looking  figure-head,  surmounted  by  a 
Genevan  cap,  which  has  been  made  so  long  to  represent 
him  to  posterity,  and  which  Carlyle  has  shown  to  have 
no  claim  to  authenticity. 

His  children  were  five  in  number.  His  two  sons  by 
his  first  wife  became  students  in  St.  John's  College, 
Cambridge,  where  Nathanael,  the  elder,  died  in  1580. 
Eleazar,  the  younger,  after  finishing  his  studies,  became 
Vicar  of  Clacton  Magna,  and  died  in  159 1.  He  too  was 
buried  at  Cambridge;  and,  by  the  death  of  both,  the 
family  of  the  Reformer  in  the  male  line  became  extinct. 
His  three  daughters  by  his  second  wife  were  Martha, 
Margaret,  and  Elizabeth.  Martha  became  the  wife  of 
Alexander  Fairley,  eldest  son  of  Robert  Fairley,  of 
Braid,  whom  we  have  just  seen  at  the  Reformer's  death- 
bed. Margaret  married  Zachary  Pont,  one  of  the  Lords 
of  Session,  and  latterly  minister  of  St.  Cuthbert's,  Edin- 
burgh. Elizabeth  wedded  John  Welsh,  best  known  as 
Minister  of  Ayr,  who  was  banished  for  the  part  which  he 
took  in  the  holding  of  the  General  Assembly  at  Aber- 
deen in  July,  1605,  and  spent  many  years  as  pastor  of  a 


202  JOHN  KNOX. 

Protestant  Church  in  France.  It  is  of  this  daughter 
that  the  well-known  story  is  told  to  the  effect  that 
when  her  husband's  health  failed  she  came  over  to 
London,  and,  having  through  the  influence  of  friends 
obtained  audience  of  King  James  L,  requested  the 
royal  permission  for  his  return  to  his  native  land. 
After  some  coarse  pleasantry,  which  need  not  here  be 
repeated,  the  king  told  her  that  if  she  would  persuade 
her  husband  to  submit  to  the  bishops  he  would  allow 
him  to  go  back  to  Scotland,  whereupon,  lifting  her  apron 
and  holding  it  out  toward  the  king,  she  answered,  like 
a  true  daughter  of  her  father,  "  Please  your  Majesty,  I'd 
rather  kep  his  head  (i.e.  receive  it  from  the  block) 
there  ! " 

Of  the  writings  of  Knox  we  have  spoken  inci- 
dentally in  the  course  of  our  narrative,  and  need  not 
therefore  enter  now  into  any  minute  criticisjii  of  their 
character  and  merits.  They  were  struck  out  of  him 
almost  extemporaneously  by  emergencies  that  arose, 
and,  like  all  similar  productions,  they  were  mainly 
ephemeral  in  their  nature,  so  that  they  are  studied  now, 
for  the  most  part,  only  by  those  who  wish  to  gain  some 
insight  into  the  man,  his  times,  and  his  work.  He  was 
not  what  might  properly  be  called  literary.  He  would 
not  have  described  himself  as  another  of  his  country- 
men did,  as  "  a  writer  of  books."  On  the  contrary,  in 
the  preface  to  the  only  sermon  which  he  published,  he 
affirmed  that  "he  considered   himself  rather  called  of 


LAST  DA  VS.  203 

God  to  instruct  the  ignorant,  comfort  the  sorrowful,  con- 
firm the  weak,  and  rebuke  the  proud  by  tongue  and 
living  voice  in  these  most  corrupt  times,  than  to  compose 
books  for  the  age  to  come ;  seeing  that  so  much  is  written 
(and  that  by  men  of  most  singular  condition)  and  yet 
so  little  well  observed,  he  decreed  to  contain  himself 
within  the  bounds  of  that  vocation  whereunto  he  felt 
himself  specially  called."  An  exception  to  this  may 
perhaps  be  found  in  his  "  History  of  the  Reformation  in 
Scotland/'  to  which  throughout  we  have  been  so  much 
indebted,  and  which  is  one  of  the  raciest,  clearest,  and 
most  trustworthy  records  of  the  heroic  struggle  in  which 
he  was  virtually  the  leader  of  the  victorious  side.  It  has 
been  stigmatized  by  Burton  as  egotistical ;  but  Carlyle 
more  justly  notices  how  on  one  occasion,  when  his  per- 
sonal merit  far  excelled  all  possible  description,  "he 
hardly  names  himself  at  all " ;  and  where  he  could  not 
be  truthful  without  speaking  of  himself,  he  invariably 
does  so  in  the  third  person,  and  without  any  attempt 
to  glorify  the  work  of  which  he  might  have  said,  "  citjus 
pars  magna  fui"  For  the  rest,  as  Carlyle  says,  "  His 
account  of  every  event  he  was  present  in  is  that  of  a 
well-discerning  eye-witness.  Things  he  did  not  himself 
see,  but  had  reasonable  cause  and  abundant  means  to 
inquire  into — battles  even,  and  sieges — are  described 
with  something  of  a  Homeric  vigour  and  simplicity.''  It 
is  unfortunate  for  modern  readers  that  it  is  written  in  the 
old  Scottish  dialect ;  but  if  some  competent  scholar 
would  only  honestly  modernize  and  faithfully  edit  it,  a 


204  JOHN  KNOX. 

great  boon  would  be  conferred  upon  the  present  gener- 
ation, for  it  has  in  it  many  elements  of  popular  interest. 

His  special  vocation  was  that  of  the  preacher  rather 
than  of  the  author.  The  pulpit  was  the  throne  of  his 
peculiar  and  pre-eminent  power.  Other  men  might  equal 
or  surpass  him  elsewhere,  but  there  he  was  supreme. 
Different  excellences  might  come  out  in  himself  on  dif- 
ferent occasions;  but  in  the  pulpit  all  his  abilities  were 
conspicuous,  and  there  they  were  always  at  their  best.  It 
was  the  glass  which  focussed  all  his  powers  into  a  point, 
and  quickened  their  exercise  into  a  burning  intensity 
which  kindled  everything  it  touched.  It  brightened  his 
intellect,  enlivened  his  imagination,  clarified  his  judg- 
ment, inflamed  his  courage,  and  gave  fiery  energy  to 
his  utterance.  He  was  never  elsewhere  so  great  in  any 
one  of  these  particulars,  as  he  was,  when  in  the  pulpit,  in 
them  all;  for  there,  over  and  above  the  " prcefervidum 
ingenium"  which  he  had  in  common  with  so  many  of 
his  countrymen,  and  the  glow  of  animation  which  fills 
the  soul  of  the  orator  when  he  looks  upon  an  audience, 
he  had  the  feeling  that  he  was  called  of  God  to  be 
faithful,  and  that  made  him  almost  like  another  Paul. 
Behind  him  was  the  cross  of  his  Lord ;  before  him  was 
the  throne  at  which  he  was  to  be  accountable,  and 
between  these  two  he  stood  "  watching  for  souls  as  one 
that  must  give  account."  He  began  his  discourse  most 
commonly  with  Biblical  exposition,  and  spent  a  little 
time  in  calmly,  clearly,  and  fully  explaining  the  meaning 
of  the   passage   on   which   he   was  engaged.      In  this 


LAST  DAYS.  205 

portion  of  his  sermon,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  pub- 
lished tracts  which  were  apparently  founded  on  pulpit 
utterances,  he  was  clear,  simple,  convincing ;  not  making 
a  parade  of  learning,  yet  bringing  out  withal  the  true 
significance  of  the  sacred  text.  Then  having  cleared 
away  all  doubt  from  that,  he  made  it  the  foundation  of 
a  battery,  whereon  he  erected  a  swivel  gun,  and  with 
that  he  swept  the  whole  horizon,  firing  at  every  evil 
which  came  within  his  view.  Nor  were  the  shots  mere 
random  things.  They  were  deliberately  aimed,  and 
they  commonly  did  most  effective  work.  No  matter 
who  might  be  the  evil-doer,  the  exposure  was  sure  to 
be  made,  and  the  expostulation,  usually  ending  in 
denunciation,  unless  the  sinner  should  repent,  was 
sure  to  follow.  Whatever  he  might  do  elsewhere,  he 
could  neither  shut  his  eyes  nor  keep  back  his  utterance 
when  he  was,  as  he  called  it,  "in  public  place."  He 
was  "  set  as  a  watchman "  to  the  people  of  Scotland, 
and  he  would  watch  with  wakeful  vigilance,  and  give 
honest  warning  of  everything  which  he  saw  wrong ;  for 
the  wrong  with  him  was  always  fraught  with  danger,  and 
the  wrongness  was  enough  to  evoke  his  protest.  He 
used  no  soft  words.  He  was  no  maker  of  polite  phrases. 
He  spoke  in  order  to  be  understood,  and  therefore  he 
11  called  a  fig  a  fig,  and  a  spade  a  spade."  He  went 
into  the  pulpit  not  because  he  had  to  say  something, 
but  because  there  was  something  in  him  which  was 
compelling  itself  to  be  said.  He  spoke  because  he 
11  could   not   but "   speak.      That    irrepressibility    gave 


206  JOHN  KNOX. 

volcanic  energy  to  his  manner  and  fiery  force  to  his 
words,  so  that  the  effects  produced  by  his  sermons 
were  not  merely  superficial.  Like  those  modern  mis- 
siles which  burst  in  the  wounds  which  they  have  made, 
his  words  exploded  within  the  hearts  of  those  who  had 
received  them,  and  set  them  on  fire  with  convictions 
that  flamed  forth  in  their  conduct.  It  was  apparently 
impossible  for  any  one  to  listen  to  him  without  being 
deeply  moved,  either  to  antagonism,  or  to  enthusiastic 
agreement,  or — for  he  could  be  tender  also — to  tears. 

It  may  be  said  indeed  that  he  allowed  himself  too 
great  liberty  in  commenting  on  public  men  and  national 
affairs ;  and  we  may  readily  admit  that  in  ordinary  times, 
and  especially  in  our  altered  circumstances,  it  would  be 
unwise  in  most  preachers  to  use  the  pulpit  precisely  as 
he  did.  But  we  have  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  crisis 
through  which  his  country  was  passing  at  the  time,  was 
as  much  religious  as  political,  and  that  the  pulpit  was 
the  only  organ  at  his  command.  To  his  credit  be  it 
recorded,  that  he  was,  if  not  the  first,  at  least  one  of  the 
very  first  to  perceive  the  importance  of  making  and 
guiding  public  opinion  aright.  He  saw  that  the  people 
were  to  be  the  virtual  rulers  in  the  coming  time ;  nay,  he 
recognised  in  them  the  ultimate  arbiters  for  the  decision 
of  the  great  matters  which  were  then  in  debate,  and  there- 
fore he  would  not  take  time  to  go  to  royal  closets  or 
noblemen's  studies,  but  made  his  appeal  to  the  people  as 
a  body,  and  the  pulpit  was  the  only  place  in  which  he 
could  do  that.     The  daily  press  was  not  then  born  ;  the 


LAST  DA  VS.  207 

public  meeting  had  not  yet  come  into  vogue ;  but  what 
is  now  done  by  our  editors  in  their  columns,  and  by  our 
statesmen  in  Midlothian  campaigns,  and  such  like,  he 
did  by  his  five  weekly  sermons  in  Edinburgh,  and  by  his 
various  preaching  journeys  in  the  south  and  west  and 
north  divisions  of  the  kingdom.  He  informed  and 
aroused  public  opinion.  He  appealed  to  the  people, 
speaking  to  them  as  one  under  oath  to  the  King  of 
kings  the  while;  and  when  we  put  the  matter  in  that 
light,  we  have  at  once  the  defence  of  his  procedure  and 
the  explanation  of  his  success. 

He  was  not  always  wise ;  neither  was  he  always  dis- 
criminating in  his  utterances.  Who  is  ?  who  especially 
when  surrounded  by  the  difficulties  with  which  he  had 
to  contend  ?  and  we  may  well  forgive  him  his  occasional 
indiscretions,  when  we  think  of  the  work:  which,  in  spite 
of  these,  he  was  honoured  to  accomplish.  By  that  work 
he  has  earned  the  gratitude  of  posterity,  and  deserved 
a  place  among  the  men  who  are  most  worthy  to  be 
remembered  in  these  times.  By  that  work  the  entire 
face  and  future  of  Scotland  were  changed.  She  has 
made  great  progress  in  many  directions  since  his  day, 
and  outgrown  many  of  the  limitations  within  which  he 
would  have  restricted  her ;  but  the  success  of  his  work 
made  it  possible  for  her  to  become  what  she  is  to-day. 
The  liberty,  the  literature,  the  philosophy,  as  well  as 
the  religion  of  Scotland,  could  not  have  developed  into 
what  they  became  without  the  Reformation ;  and  without 
Knox,  humanly  speaking,  the  Reformation  would  not 


208  JOHN  KNOX. 

have  been  at  all,  or  at  least  would  not  have  been  what 
it  actually  became.  He  had  not  the  lyric  thrill  of  genius 
that  vibrates  in  the  songs  of  Robert  Burns ;  but  in  his 
own  way  and  to  his  own  tune  he  sang,  "  A  man's  a  man 
for  a'  that,"  two  hundred  years  before  the  Ayrshire  bard 
was  born.  He  laid  the  foundation  of  that  national 
popular  education  which  has  made  Scotland  at  home  so 
intelligent,  and  carried  Scotsmen  with  honour  abroad 
into  all  the  countries  under  heaven ;  and  though  he 
would  have  protested  very  vehemently  against  the  scep- 
ticism of  Hume  and  others,  yet  the  men  who  have  made 
the  Scottish  school  of  philosophy  illustrious,  received, 
consciously  or  unconsciously,  much  of  their  impulse  from 
his  work.  Add  to  this,  that  wherever  Presbyterianism  has 
found  a  foothold,  its  votaries  name  Knox  side  by  side 
with  Calvin,  as  one  of  its  foremost  leaders  and  organizers. 
But  when  we  consider  the  shortness  of  the  time  within 
which  Knox  did  his  work  for  Scotland,  the  greatness  of 
the  man  becomes  still  more  conspicuous.  He  was  forty- 
two  years  of  age  when  he  was  called  to  preach  in  the 
Castle  of  St.  Andrews,  and  he  died  at  sixty-seven.  With- 
in these  twenty-five  years  therefore  his  reformation  work 
was  done  ;  and  yet  of  these  nearly  two  were  spent  as  a 
galley-slave  in  French  captivity,  five  were  passed  in 
England,  three  on  the  continent,  and  for  the  last  year 
and  a  half  of  his  life  he  was  disabled  by  paralysis,  so  that 
his  active  labours  in  his  native  land  were  virtually  con- 
densed within  little  more  than  fourteen  years.  During 
these,  also,  he  had  to  contend,  save  in  the  brief  season 


LAST  DA  YS.  209 

of  Murray's  regency,  with  the  greatest  difficulties,  but 
through  them  all  he  held  on,  and  over  them  all  he 
secured  an  ultimate  triumph.  His  energy  was  consum- 
ing, his  zeal  untiring,  and  his  vigilance  unslumbering. 
With  the  eye  of  a  statesman  he  looked  into  the  future, 
while  at  the  same  time  he  keenly  scrutinized  the  move- 
ments of  the  present.  He  had  the  near  sight  which  sees 
what  is  closest  to  it  with  admirable  distinctness,  and 
the  far  sight  which  descries  with  equal  accuracy  what 
is  distant,  and  with  these  he  combined  the  philosophic 
spirit  which  marked  very  correctly  the  connection  be- 
tween the  two.  He  was  a  true  patriot,  and  ever  willing 
to  sacrifice  himself  in  the  welfare  of  his  country.  And 
all  these  qualities  in  him  were  raised  to  the  white  heat 
of  enthusiasm,  and  fused  into  the  unity  of  holiness  by  his 
devotion  to  the  God  and  Father  of  his  Saviour  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  He  spoke,  and  wrote,  and  acted  as  ever 
in  His  sight.  This  was  the  secret  of  his  courage,  the 
root  of  his  inflexibility,  and  the  source  of  his  power.  As 
a  Reformer  he  had  in  him  the  boldness  of  Luther,  com- 
bined with  some  of  the  qualities  of  Calvin,  and  though 
as  a  whole  he  was  inferior  to  both,  yet  more  than  either 
he  reminds  us  of  a  Hebrew  prophet.  When  we  see  him 
before  Queen  Mary,  we  think  at  once  of  Elijah  before 
Ahab,  and  more  appropriately  perhaps  than  any  other 
man  in  modern  history  he  might  have  taken  for  the 
motto  of  his  life  the  oft-repeated  asseveration  of  the 
Tishbite,  "As  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  liveth,  before 
whom  1  stand." 

P 


2IO  JOHN  KNOX. 

And  yet,  though  sternly  uttering  in  the  highest  places 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  word  of  God,  there  were  not 
wanting  in  his  character  other  traits  of  gentleness  and 
geniality.  As  Carlyle  has  truly  said,  "Tumult  was  not 
his  element,  it  was  the  tragic  feature  of  his  life  that  he 
was  forced  to  dwell  in  that."  He  too,  like  the  granite 
mountains  of  his  native  land,  had  in  him  fountains  of 
tenderness,  and  valleys  laughing  with  cheerfulness.  He 
was  not  the  heartless  Stoic  that  many  have  ignorantly 
painted  him,  for  have  we  not  seen  him  weeping  with 
those  who  were  "sobbing  unto  God  "  ?  And  though  it 
may  seem  strange  to  those  who  have  not  made  them- 
selves acquainted  with  his  history,  there  was  in  him  a 
vein  of  humour,  yea  even,  as  Carlyle  says,  of  "  drollery," 
that  makes  him  excellent  company.  This  humour  of 
his,  as  the  writer  just  named  has  admirably  diagnosed  it, 
was  "  not  mockery,  scorn,  bitterness,  alone,  though  there 
is  enough  of  that  too,  but  a  true,  loving,  illuminating 
laugh  mounts  up  over  the  earnest  visage  ;  not  a  loud 
laugh  ;  you  would  say  a  laugh  in  the  eyes  most  of  all/' 

But  now  our  task  is  done.  We  have  tried  to  show 
honestly  the  man  as  he  was,  and  to  describe  dispassion- 
ately the  work  which  he  did.  He  is,  if  not  pre-eminently 
the  Scotchman  of  history, — though  we  think  a  good  claim 
might  be  established  for  him  as  such, — yet  certainly  one 
of  "the  three  mightiest,"  or  of  "the  first  three"  of  his 
nation ;  and  like  the  vine  whose  branches  spread  over 
the  wall,  his  influence  has  gone  in  blessing  to  other 
lands,  for  in  his  work  we  have  the  root  of  the  English 


LAST  DAYS.  211 

Revolution,  and  some  of  the  seeds  that  were  carried 
westward  in  the  Mayflower,  and  sown  in  New  England 
fields,  had  fallen  from  his  hands.  It  is  not  inappropriate 
therefore  that  one  whose  labours  in  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel  have  closely  connected  him  alike  with  Scotland, 
England,  and  America,  should  pay  this  willing  tribute  to 
his  name  and  work. 


INDEX 


Annand,  Dean,  Controversy  of 
Knox  with,  17. 

Answers  to  some  questions  concern- 
ing Baptism,  etc.,  by  Knox,  17. 

Arbuckle,  Friar,  Controversy  of, 
with  Knox,  concerning  the  Mass, 

18,  32. 
Arran,  Earl  of,  appointed  Regent 

of  Scotland,  4;  character  of,  5. 
Argyle,  Earl  of,  108,  116,  125. 

Balfour  of  Mount  Quarry,  8. 

Balnaves,  Henry,  6,  15,  24,  29. 

Band,  or  Bond,  Godlv,  107,  112, 
116. 

Beaton,  Cardinal,  executes  George 
Wishart,  2;  character  of,  4;  pro- 
duces a  forged  will  in  order  to 
obtain  the  Regency  of  Scotland, 
4;  murder  of,  8;  condemnation 
of  Walter  Mill  by,  116. 

Becon's  Displaying  of  the  Mass,  45. 

Berwick  on  Tweed,  Knox  ap- 
pointed to,  30;  condition  of,  at 
that  time,  31;  practice  of  Knox 
at,  in  the  matter  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  32,  36;  preaching  of 
Knox  at,  ^. 

Blast,  First,  of  the  Trumpet 
against  the  monstrous  Regiment 
of  Women,  by  Knox,  108. 

Book  of  Common  Prayer  (English), 
31,  36,  46,  47. 

Book  of  Common  Order  (Scottish), 

105,  147- 
Book  of  Discipline,  First,  140-147, 
153;  not  ratified,  154. 


Bothwell,  Earl  of,  apprehends 
George  Wishart,  2;  connection 
of,  with  the  family  of  Knox,  10; 
part  of,  in  Darnley's  murder, 
183 ;  marriage  of,  to  Queen  Mary, 
1S3. 

Bowes,  Marjory,  betrothed  to 
Knox,  40;  marriage  of,  to  Knox, 
96;  joins  her  husband  in  Scot- 
land, 126;  death  of,  155;  sons 
of,  151,  201. 

Bowes,  Elizabeth,  mother-in-law 
of  Knox,  40,  60,  66;  character 
of,  71,  98,  100,  101;  kindness 
of  Knox  to,  102. 

Brandling,  Sir  Robert,  60,  68. 

Bullinger,  Henry,  48,  77;  ques- 
tions of  Knox  to,  77,  81,  108. 

Burton's  History  of  Scotland  quo- 
ted from  or  referred  to,  4,  122, 
195,  203. 

Cairns,  John,  appointed  reader  to 
Knox  in  Edinburgh,  155. 

Calvin,  John,  77,  82;  opinion  of, 
on  English  Prayer  Book,  86; 
criticism  of  Knox's  treatment  at 
Frankfort  by,  93,  106,  no. 

Campbell,  Robert,  of  Kingzeau- 
cleuch,  98,  158,  198. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  Opinions  of,  on 
Knox's  conduct  at  Frankfort, 
92;  on  the  First  Blast,  no;  on 
Knox's  treatment  of  Queen 
Mary,  175;  on  the  portraits  of 
Knox,  200;  on  Knox's  History 
of    the    Reformation,    203;    on 


INDEX. 


213 


Knox's  tenderness  and  humor, 
210;  description  of  the  affair  at 
Cupar  Muir  by,  124. 

Cecil,  Secretary,  49,  113,  130,  162. 

Clergy  of  Scotland,  General  charac- 
ter of,  before  the  Reformation,  6. 

Confession  of  Faith,  Scottish,  137; 
ratified  by  Parliament,  139. 

Conversion  of  Knox  to  Protestant- 
ism, 13. 

Coverdale,  Miles,  godfather  to  one 
of  Knox's  sons,  151. 

Cox,  Dr.  Richard,  Relation  of,  to 
the  troubles  at  Frankfort,  88,  91. 

Craig,  John,  colleague  of  Knox, 
163,  188,  196. 

Cranmer,  Archbishop,  on  the 
Mass,  43;  letter  of,  to  English 
Council,  49;  probable  author  of 
Declaration  on  Kneeling,  51; 
sufferings  of,.  82. 

Crossraguel,  Abbot  of,  Controversy 
with  Knox,  166-168. 

Cupar  Muir,  Affair  of,  124. 

Darnley,  Lord  Henry,  Marriage 

of,  to  Queen  Mary  Stuart,  180; 

offended   at   sermon   by    Knox, 

180;  part  of,  in  murder  of  Riz- 

zio,  183;  murder  of,  183. 
Deacons,  Office  of,  in  First  Book 

of  Discipline,  143. 
Declaration    of   Prayer    Book   on 

Kneeling  in  the  Lord's  Supper, 

History  of,  48-55. 
Demolition    of    Roman    Catholic 

edifices,   Relation  of  Knox   to, 

121. 
Dieppe,  Knox  in,  71-76,  79,  113. 
Doctors,    Office    of,    in    Scottish 

Church,    145. 
Douglas,  John, .  Chaplain  to  Earl 

of  Argyle,  116. 

Edinburgh,  Knox  chosen  minister 
of,  125;  Knox's  house  in,  155; 
labors  of  Knox  in,  163. 


Education,  Book  of  Discipline  on, 
146. 

Edward  VI.,  First  Prayer  Book 
of,  31,  36,  46,  47;  Second 
Prayer  Book  of,  46,  47;  order 
of  Communion  under,  46;  death 
of,  62. 

Elders,  Office  of,  under  First  Book 
of  Discipline,  142. 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England,  ac- 
cession to  the  throne,  112;  re- 
fuses Knox's  request  for  per- 
mission to  travel  through  En- 
gland, 113;  relation  of,  to  Mary 
Stuart,  158;  deceitfulness  of, 
130. 

England,  Feelings  of  Knox  in  re- 
gard to,  70;  influence  of,  on 
Knox,  62. 

Erskine,  Lord,  98,  106. 

Erskine  of  Dun,  97,  98,  108,  120, 
171. 

Exposition  of  the  Sixth  Psalm  by 
Knox,  71-74. 

Faithful  Admonition,  by  Knox, 
79-82. 

Fairley,  Robert,  of  Braid,  198. 

Francis*  I.,  of  France,  Death  of, 
20. 

Francis  II.,  Death  of,  156. 

Frankfort  on  the  Maine,  History 
of  Knox's  troubles  at,  83-94; 
departure  of  Knox  from,  91. 

First  Blast  of  the  Trumpet  against 
the  Monstrous  Regiment  of  Wo- 
men, by  Knox,  108,  113,  161; 
Carlyle  on,  1 10. 

Froude,  J.  A.,  History  of  England, 
64,  127,  139,  185. 

Galleys,  French,  Knox's  experi- 
ences in,  23-25. 

Geneva,  Knox  at,  83;  pastor  of 
English  congregation  in,  95 ;  ar- 
rival of  Knox  and  family  at, 
101;   labors   of  Knox    at,    105. 


214 


INDEX. 


107;  thanks  of  English  refugees 

to  the  council  of,  112. 
Gilby,  Arthur,  colleague  of  Knox 

at  Geneva,  95. 
Glasgow  University,  Knox  a  stu- 
dent at,  11. 
Glencaim,  Earl  of,  106,  108. 
Godly  Band  or  Bond,    107,    112, 

116. 
Godly    Letter    of    Warning,    by 

Knox,  74-76. 
Guillaume,    Thomas,    Connection 

of  Knox  with,  13. 

Haddington,     George    Wishart 

preaching   at,    I ;   birthplace   of 

Knox,  10. 
Hamilton,  Patrick,  5. 
Henry    VIII.,    Dispute    of,    with 

James  V.,  4;  connection  of,  with 

conspirators  against  Beaton,  7; 

Death  of,  20. 
Hooper,  Bishop,  45,  59. 
Hume,   David,  Letter  of,  to  Dr. 

Robertson,  on  character  of  Mary 

Stuart,  177. 

James  V.,   Death  of,  3;  dispute 
.     with  Henry  VIII.,  3. 
James  VI.,  Birth  of,  183;  corona- 
tion of,  184. 

Kirkaldy  of  Grange,  9;  makes 
terms  for  surrender  of  the  castle 
of  St.  Andrews,  22;  dissuaded 
by  Knox  from  the  shedding  of 
blood  to  escape  from  prison,  26; 
controversy  of  with  Knox,  187; 
message  of  Knox  to,  198. 

Kneeling  in  the  Lord's  Supper, 
Knox's  opinions  and  practice  in 
regard  to, 35,  37,  39;  declaration 
of  English  Prayer  Book  on,  62. 

Knox,  John,  First  appearance  of, 
as  body-guard  of  Wishart,  2; 
enters  the  castle  of  St.  Andrews, 
9,  14;  early  history  of,  10;  con- 


version of,  to  Protestantism,  13; 
within  the  castle  of  St.  An- 
drews, 14;  called  to  the  minis- 
istry,  15;  controversy  with  Dean 
Annand,  17;  sermon  at  St.  An- 
drews, 17;  controversy  with 
Friar  Arbuckle,  18,  32;  made 
a  galley  slave,  22;  feelings  of, 
on  sight  of  St.  Andrews  from 
the  galley,  27;  released  from 
the  galleys,  30;  preaching  of,  at 
Berwick,  33;  administration  of 
Lord's  Supper  at  Berwick,  36; 
opinions  of,  on  Lord's  Supper, 
39;  heroism  of,  40;  removal  to 
Newcastle,  42 ;  discourse  on  the 
Mass,  43;  preaching  of,  at  New- 
castle, 45 ;  practice  in  regard  to 
the  Lord's  Supper  at  Newcastle, 
45  5  appointed  a  Royal  Chaplain, 
46;  preaches  before  Edward  VI., 
48,  61;  influence  of,  on  English 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  48-52; 
relation  of,  to  Duke  of  Northum- 
berland, 48,  56;  offered  a  bishop- 
ric, 57;  offered  the  vicarage  of 
All  Hallows,  London,  58;  te- 
fore  the  English  council,  58;  in 
the  county  of  Bucks,  65 ;  sermon 
at  Amersham,  65 ;  Exposition  of 
Sixth  Psalm,  68,  72;  leaves  En- 
gland for  France,  69;  love  of, 
for  England,  70;  writes  Godly 
Letter  of  Warning,  74;  first  visit 
of,  to  Switzerland,  77;  returns 
to  Dieppe,  79;  writes  "  Faith- 
ful Admonition,"  79;  goes  to 
Frankfort  on  the  Maine,  S3;  his- 
tory of  troubles  there,  84;  leaves 
Frankfort,  91;  pastor  of  English 
Church  at  Geneva,  95 ;  brief  visit 
of,  to  Scotland,  95 ;  marriage  of 
to  Marjory  Bowes,  96;  work  in 
Scotland  at  this  time,  97-99; 
summoned  to  appear  before  the 
bishops,  100;  writes  to  the  Q)ueen 
Regent,  100;  returns  to  Geneva 


INDEX. 


215 


102,  labors  at,  105;  called  to  re- 
turn to  Scotland,  106;  at  Dieppe, 
106;  returns  to  Geneva,  107; 
leaves  Geneva  for  Scotland,  1 12; 
arrives  in  Scotland,  1 14;  preach- 
es at  Perth,  120;  and  at  St.  An- 
drews, 124;  chosen  minister  of 
St.  Giles,  Edinburgh,  125;  trav- 
els through  Scotland,  126;  ne- 
gotiations with  Sir  James  Croft, 
129;  views  of,  on  civil  govern- 
ment, 130;  imperfect  under- 
standing of  the  relation  of  Church 
and  State,  133;  residence  of,  in 
Edinburgh,  155;  first  interview 
with  Queen  Mary  Stuart,  159; 
second  interview,  163;  debate 
of,  with  Abbot  of  Crossraguel, 

■  166;  breach  between,  and  Earl 
of  Murray,  169;  third  interview 
with  Queen  Mary,  16S;  fourth 
interview  with  Mary,  170;  ac- 
cused falsely  of  immorality,  175; 
before  the  Scottish  council,  175; 
marriage  of,  to  Margaret  Stew- 
art, 179;  preaches  at  coronation 
of  James  VI.,  185;  mourns  over 
the  death  of  Murray ,  185;  strick- 
en with  paralysis,  186;  contro- 
versy with  Kirkaldy  of  Grange, 
187;  danger  of,  in  Edinburgh, 
189;  goes  to  St.  Andrews,  190; 
Melville's  description  of,  at  this 
time,  191;  publishes  "Answer 
to  the  Letter  of  a  Jesuit,"  192; 
returns  to  Edinburgh,  195;  last 
sermon  of,  197;  last  illness  of, 
197;  death  of,  199;  personal  ap- 
pearance of,  200;  children  of, 
201;  portraits  of,  200;  writings 
of,  202;  preaching  of,  204;  effect 
of  work  on  Scotland,  207;  ten- 
derness and  humor  of,  210. 

Knox's  History  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, 9,  22,  25,  27,  35,  98,  121, 
124,  138,  156,  161,  170;  de- 
scribed by  Carlyle,  203. 


Laing,  David,  LL.D.,  Edition  of 
Knox's  Works  quoted  from  oi 
referred  to,   11,   12,  58,  65,  72, 

74,  75>  77>  i°2>  IIO>  I29>  13°. 
144,  148,  153,  182,  201. 

Lawson,  John,  Induction  of,  as 
Knox's  successor,  197. 

Leslie,  Norman,  8,  20. 

Lindsay,  Sir  David,  6,  15. 

Liturgy  of  Knox,  152. 

Lollards  of  Kyle,  99. 

Lorimer,  Rev.  Peter,  D.D.,  Works 
on  Knox  quoted  from  or  referred 
to,  8,  25,  28,  30,  31,33,  36,  37, 
41,  45,  46,  48,  49,  51,  52,  54, 

55.  103- 

Lorn,  Lord,  58,  106. 

Lorraine,  Princes  of,  113. 

Lord's  Supper,  first  administered 
after  reformed  fashion,  19;  prac- 
tice followed  by  Knox  regarding 

•  at  Berwick,  32-34,  36;  kneeling 
in,  opposed  by  Knox,  38;  influ- 
ence of  Knox  on  English  Prayer 
Book  regarding,  46-52;  declar* 
ation  of  Prayer  Book  on  kneel- 
ing in,  52. 

Lyons,  Knox  visits,  107. 

Major,  John,  Principal  of  Glasgow 
University,  n;  opinions  of,  II, 
133;  present  at  Knox's  sermon 
at  St.  Andrews,  18. 

McCrie's  "Life  of  Knox  "  quoted 
from  or  referred  to,  17,  85,  92, 
96,  132,  161,  170,  193,  197. 

Maitland  of  Lethington,  97;  the 
younger,  128,  136,  174,  178, 
179. 

Marriage,  Solemnization  of,  accor- 
ding to  Book  of  Discipline,  146. 

Mary  of  Guise,  character  of,  3; 
Queen  Regent  of  Scotland,  97; 
policy  of,  97 ;  letter  of  Knox  to, 
100;  declared  enemy  of  Refor- 
mation, 114;  petition  of  Protes- 
tant barons   to,    117;  prohibit? 


2l6 


INDEX. 


preaching  or  administration  of  the 
sacrament  without  authority  of 
bishops,  119;  proclaims  Knox  a 
rebel,  119;  death  of,  128. 
Mary  Stuart,  Queen  of  Scotland, 
3 ;  betrothed  to  the  Dauphin  of 
France,  5 ;  reply  of  Knox  to,  on 
the  charge  of  necromancy,  35 ; 
death  of  first  husband  of,  156; 
character  of,  157;  arrival  of,  in 
Scotland,  156;  interviews  with 
Knox,  159,  163,  168,  170,  173, 
175;  marries  Lord  Henry  Darn- 
ley,  180;  marriage  of,  to  Both- 
well,  1 83 ;  abdicates  in  favor  of 
her  son,  183;  defeat  of,  at  Lang- 


side,   1! 


tprisonment  of,   by 


Elizabeth. 

Mary  Tudor,  Accession  of,  to 
English  throne,  66;  prayer  of 
Knox  for,  67 ;  first  proclamation 
of,  67;  marriage  of,  to  Philip  of 
Spain,  81;  attacked  by  Knox  in 
First  Blast,  109. 

Mass,  Opinions  of  Knox  on  the, 
32,  43,  107;  Becon's  Display- 
ing of  the,  45. 

Melville  of  Raith,  9. 

Melville,  James,  Description  of 
Knox  at  St.  Andrews  by,  191. 

Mill,  Walter,  Martyrdom  of,  1 16. 

Milton,  John,  quoted  from,  109. 

Ministers,  Office  of,  in  Book  of 
Discipline,  141. 

Mitchell,  Dr.,  A.  F.,  quoted  from, 

193- 

Morton,  Earl  of,  108;  burial  eu- 
logy of,  on  Knox,  199. 

Murray,  Earl  of  (See  Lord  James 
Stuart). 

Newcastle  on  Tyne,  Removal  of 
Knox  to,  42 ;  preaching  of  Knox 
at,  45;  practice  of  Knox  at,  in 
regard  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  45. 

Northumberland,  Duke  of,  48,  57, 
60,  61,  64. 


Ochiltree,  Lord,  172;  father-in- 
law  of  Knox,  179,  180. 
Ormiston,  Laird  of,  10. 

Prayer  Booksof  Edw'd  VI.,  First, 
31,  36,  46;  Second,  46,  47,  49, 
52,  56,  85;  opinion  of  Calvin  on, 
86. 

Perth,  John  Knox  at,  121. 

Preaching,  Knox's  habit  of  prep- 
aration for,  79;  effect  of  Knox's, 
at  Perth,  120;  in  Edinburgh, 
136;  before  Darnley,  181 ;  Knox's 
characterized,  204. 

Predestination,  Knox's  Disserta- 
tion on,  in. 

Privy  Council  of  England,  name 
of  Knox  in  register  of,  29;  me- 
morial of  Knox  to,  on  Lord's, 
Supper,  49;  appearance  of  Knox 
before,  58. 

Portraits  of  Knox,  200. 

Randolph,  English  Ambassador 
at  Edinburgh,  28,  138. 

Readers,  Office  of,  in  Scottish 
Church,  140. 

Reformation,  Beginning  of,  in 
Scotland,  5;  Hamilton  period 
of,  19;  Wishart  period  of,  19; 
Knox  period  of,  19. 

Rizzio,  David,  character  of,  182; 
murder  of,  183. 

Robertson,  William,  D.D.,  char- 
acter of  Murray  in  History  of 
Scotland,  185. 

Rochelle,  Knox  visits,  107. 

Ross,  Dr.  John  M.,  quoted  from, 
133- 

Sacraments,  Scottish  Confession 
of  Faith  on,  137;  administration 
of  the,  according  to  Book  of 
Discipline,  145;  according  to 
the  ,Book  of  Common  Order, 
151.' 

Scotland,  Condition  of,  before  Ref 


INDEX. 


217 


ormation,  7;  visit  of  Knox  to, 
in  1555,  97;  arrival  of  Knox  at, 
in  1559,  114;  condition  of,  at 
that  time,  115;  labors  of  Knox 
in,  126;  negotiations  of,  with 
England,  127. 

St.  Andrews,  Castle  of,  an  asy- 
lum for  Protestants,  8;  siege  of, 
by  Arran,  9;  arrival  of  Knox  in, 
9;  work  of  Knox  in,  14;  Knox 
called  to  the  ministry  in,  15; 
Knox  preaches  in,  17;  attacked 
by  Leo  Strozzi,  21;  visited  by 
Knox,  123;  the  scene  of  Knox's 
all  but  latest  labors,  191. 

Scottish  Confession  of  Faith,  137. 

Scottish  Parliament,  Meeting  of, 
in  1560,  136;  in  1563,  169. 

Solway  Moss,  Battle  of,  3,  4. 

Somerset, 'Duke  of,  Protector  of 
England,  20. 

Stewart,  Margaret,  married  to 
Knox,  179. 

Stuart,  Lord  James,  Earl  of  Mur- 
ray, 98,  106,  125,  138,  156,  166, 
169,  174,  180,  184,  185. 

Strozzi,  Leo,  attacks  the  castle  of 
St.  Andrews,  21. 


Superintendents,  Office  of,  in  Scot- 
tish Church,  149. 

Switzerland,  First  visit  of  Knox  to, 
77- 

Throckmorton,  English  Ambas- 
sador at  Paris,  126. 

Tulchan  Bishops,  194. 

Tunstall,  Bishop  of  Durham,  31. 

Tyninghame  Charter  Room,  In- 
strument in,  signed  by  Knox,  12. 

Utenhovius,  Letter  of,  to  Bullin- 
ger,  48. 

Whittixgham,  Dean,  with  Knox 
at  Frankfort,  86;  gives  thanks 
to  council  at  Geneva  for  hospi- 
tality to  English  refugees,  112; 
godfather  to  one  of  Knox's  sons. 

151- 

Willock,  John,  97,  126,  130. 

Wishart,  George,  at  Haddington, 
1;  apprehension  of,  2;  attended 
by  Knox,  2;  executed  at  St.  An- 
drews, 3 ;  influence  of,  on  Knox, 

13- 

Writings  of  Knox,  202. 


Date  Due 


